Maddy summaryThis bill strengthens the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by enhancing enforcement mechanisms for agents of foreign principals. It authorizes the Attorney General to issue civil investigative demands requiring agents to produce documents, answer written questions, and provide testimony, with specific procedural safeguards. The bill also increases civil penalties for violations, including higher fines for failure to register or file supplements, and adds new requirements for disclosing registration status during meetings with Congress. It mandates the Attorney General to develop a comprehensive enforcement strategy and submit annual reports on enforcement actions. These changes primarily affect foreign agents, lobbyists, and organizations representing foreign governments or entities who must comply with FARA's registration requirements.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryThis bill, the HELLPP Act (Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-saving access to Podiatric Physicians Act), makes two key changes to federal healthcare programs. First, it updates Medicaid rules to recognize doctors of podiatric medicine (podiatrists) as physicians for coverage purposes, effective January 1, 2024, allowing them to manage patient care and bill under Medicaid. Second, it clarifies Medicare documentation requirements for therapeutic shoes for people with diabetes, requiring specific medical documentation from a managing physician and podiatrist to confirm medical necessity. These changes directly affect diabetic patients needing therapeutic shoes and podiatrists who prescribe or fit them. The bill does not expand Medicare coverage but streamlines existing processes for qualifying patients.
Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits insurers from denying coverage, canceling policies, or increasing premiums for life, disability, or long-term care insurance solely because someone is a living organ donor, without considering actual health risks. It also updates the Family and Medical Leave Act to include recovery from organ donation surgery as a qualifying condition for leave for private-sector employees and federal workers. Additionally, the bill requires the Health and Human Services Secretary to update public educational materials about living organ donation within six months, covering benefits, risks, and the new insurance protections. These changes directly affect living organ donors, insurers, and employers who must comply with the updated leave and insurance rules.
Maddy summaryThe PASTEUR Act of 2023 creates a subscription model to incentivize development of new antimicrobial drugs to combat antibiotic resistance. It establishes a Committee on Critical Need Antimicrobials and a Critical Need Antimicrobial Advisory Group to identify priority infections and evaluate drug characteristics like treating multi-drug resistant infections or having novel mechanisms of action. The bill authorizes the Secretary to enter into subscription contracts with drug developers for up to $3 billion per contract, with payments based on specific drug characteristics. Drug developers receiving these contracts must meet requirements including ensuring commercial availability, tracking resistance data, and developing appropriate use plans. The act allocates $6 billion for fiscal year 2024 to fund these initiatives.
Maddy summaryThe Ukraine Human Rights Policy Act of 2023 requires the President to submit a report to Congress within 60 days on whether to impose sanctions for human rights abuses linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It mandates the Secretary of State to include detailed information in annual human rights reports about Russian forces' abuses in Ukraine, such as conditions in detention camps, forced adoptions, sexual violence against women and children, and efforts to suppress religious freedom. The bill also specifies that reports must cover U.S. diplomatic actions to address these abuses and hold Russia accountable through sanctions. This legislation directly affects U.S. foreign policy implementation and congressional oversight of sanctions targeting Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Maddy summaryThis bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct research on how cannabis affects veterans with chronic pain or PTSD. It mandates an 18-month observational study (using existing VA health records and surveys) to compare health outcomes - like pain levels, opioid use, mental health, and sleep - between veterans who use cannabis and those who don’t. If the study supports it, the VA could later run clinical trials on cannabis use for these conditions. The research directly involves VA-enrolled veterans with chronic pain or PTSD, but does not change access to cannabis or VA benefits.
Maddy summaryThis joint resolution (SJRES 25) seeks congressional disapproval of a specific Department of Labor rule regarding wage rates for H-2A agricultural workers. It targets the rule published in the Federal Register (88 Fed. Reg. 12760) that established a methodology for calculating "Adverse Effect Wage Rates" (AEWR) for temporary H-2A nonimmigrant workers in non-range occupations. If passed, the resolution would block this rule from taking effect, directly affecting agricultural employers who rely on H-2A visas and the workers themselves by preventing the implementation of the new wage calculation method. The resolution does not create new policy but aims to halt an existing rule through the congressional disapproval process under U.S. Code.
Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to prioritize research on adult education programs. It adds specific definitions for "digital literacy skills" and "information literacy skills" and requires federal research on how adult education programs improve these skills, literacy, numeracy, and job readiness for adult learners. Key mechanisms include mandating studies on successful program outcomes and identifying effective metrics to assess adult education progress. The changes directly affect federal education research programs and adult education providers receiving federal funding.
Maddy summaryThis bill exempts the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) from public disclosure requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), meaning internal program communications and decisions will not be subject to public disclosure requests. It directly affects the federal broadband funding program established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocates $42 billion to expand high-speed internet access. The key provision amends existing law to explicitly exclude BEAD-related information from FOIA requests, while still subjecting the program to standard federal transparency rules. This is a procedural change focused on information access, not new infrastructure funding or policy.
Maddy summaryThis bill (SJRES 10) seeks to block a specific rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regarding reproductive health services for veterans. It requests Congress disapprove the rule (published September 2022) under a process in federal law that allows Congress to halt agency regulations. If approved, the VA rule would be nullified and could not take effect, meaning the VA could not enforce its provisions on reproductive health services for veterans. The bill directly affects the implementation of this VA policy for veterans receiving care at VA facilities.