This resolution expresses the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of the Honorable Carl Levin, former Senator for Michigan.
This resolution expresses the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of the Honorable Mike Enzi, former Senator for Wyoming.
HUD Inspection Reform and Capital Improvement Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to remove or reduce the pay of certain HUD employees for misconduct or performance. The bill also requires an entity receiving housing assistance payments for a dwelling unit to ensure that the unit is maintained to safe and sanitary conditions and authorizes HUD to take enforcement actions for failure to meet certain maintenance standards. Additionally, the bill provides for rental adjustments for certain properties receiving project-based rental assistance. Finally, the bill sets forth scoring and inspection frequency guidelines for properties receiving project-based rental assistance.
Intergenerational Financial Obligations Reform Act This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Government Accountability Office to provide various reports that include a fiscal gap analysis and a generational accounting analysis. Under the bill, the fiscal gap generally refers to the sum of (1) the total amount of Treasury liabilities outstanding on the last day of the budget year, and (2) the discounted present value of the projected difference between federal spending and revenues during the period of the budget year and at least the next 75 fiscal years (excluding spending for net interest and principal payments on Treasury liabilities). A generational accounting analysis addresses the fiscal impact that projected federal spending and tax burdens will have on various generations of individuals.
This bill requires the President to report to Congress on the national security risks associated with any plans by China's government to create an official digital currency.
This resolution amends the Standing Rules of the Senate to require each Senate committee report to contain an analytical statement as to whether, and the extent to which, the increased budget authority, outlays, or revenue produced by the enactment of the bill or joint resolution into law may have an inflationary impact on prices and costs in the operation of the national economy or the purchasing power of low- and middle-income families.
This bill prohibits the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation from prohibiting or restricting the source of energy used by a power-generation project that has as its purpose the provision of affordable electricity in certain countries. Such countries are those that are eligible for support either solely from the International Development Association (IDA) or jointly from the IDA and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Further, the corporation (1) may not reject a power-generation project in such a country based on the source of energy used by the project; and (2) must promote a technology- and fuel-neutral energy development strategy for such countries that includes the use of oil, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal power and other sources of energy.
Preventing Restrictions and Empowering Speakers to Enable Robust and Varied Exchanges in Online Speech or the PRESERVE Online Speech Act This bill requires interactive computer services (e.g., social media companies) to issue a public disclosure containing specified information related to a request or recommendation by a government entity that the service moderate content on its platform. Examples of such moderation include eliminating the ability of a user to comment upon information or terminating or limiting a user's account. Failure to comply with this requirement shall result in a fine of $50,000 per day, which shall be deposited in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The Federal Communications Commission must submit an annual report that includes the contents of each such public disclosure.
Protecting o ur Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act of 2021 This bill requires the federal government to maintain a registry of certain foreign-sourced drugs, prohibits federal health care programs from purchasing drugs containing ingredients manufactured in China, requires drugs to be labeled for country of origin, and offers domestic manufacturing facility tax incentives. The Food and Drug Administration shall maintain (1) a list of foreign-sourced drugs and active ingredients that are critical for consumer health and safety, and (2) another list identifying such drugs that are produced exclusively in China or use ingredients produced in China. The bill phases in a restriction on federal health care programs purchasing drugs with active ingredients manufactured in China. By January 1, 2024, such programs may not purchase a drug with any active ingredients from China. The Department of Health and Human Services may issue a waiver for an agency or program that is unable to meet this requirement, but no waiver may apply to drugs purchased in or after 2026. Each drug must have labeling listing the country of origin of each active ingredient, and a drug without this labeling shall be deemed misbranded. The bill allows 100% tax expensing for qualified pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing property placed in service between 2020 and 2026.
UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or engaged in the dissemination of anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic ideologies. Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is subject to comprehensive financial audits by an independent auditing firm and is unaffiliated with any financial institutions that the United States considers to be complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The bill also requires the State Department to implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their activities and efforts regarding the UNRWA with U.S. policy objectives, including the phase out of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees in countries other than Israel and in territories not controlled by Israel. The State Department must report to Congress on this plan.
