Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021 This bill prohibits federal agencies from mandating the use of masks or face coverings on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Specifically, the bill nullifies (1) the rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 29, 2021, that mandates such use of masks or face coverings; and (2) orders and directives of the Transportation Security Administration that relate to the CDC rule.

Securing the Homeland from International Entrants with Life-threatening Diseases Act or the SHIELD Act This bill suspends for one year the admission and parole into the United States of certain categories of individuals who are from or were recently in a country that fails to meet certain criteria related to COVID-19. This restriction applies to certain individuals entering the United States from Mexico or Canada through a port of entry or U.S. Border Patrol station and (1) whose country of origin has not been categorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a low-risk country for COVID-19, or (2) who was in such a country at any time in the 30 days before arriving in the United States. The bill exempts certain individuals from this restriction, including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, members of the Armed Forces, and persons from a foreign country who arrive at a designated port of entry with valid travel documents. The Department of Homeland Security shall transport barred individuals to a foreign location, such as an individual's country of origin, to the extent practicable.

This resolution encourages the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update certain guidance to clarify that individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 need not wear masks on public transportation networks. The resolution also recommends that the Transportation Security Administration align its mask requirements with such CDC guidance.

END CRT Act This bill prohibits executive agencies from acting in contravention of certain provisions of Executive Order 13950, which prohibits programming that contains certain concepts relating to race and sex. It also prohibits federal agencies and recipients of federal funds from advancing certain ideas, such as that one race is inherently superior or inferior to another race.

Minor League Baseball Relief Act This bill establishes a program for the relief of certain minor league baseball clubs and independent professional baseball clubs that experienced large business losses. The bill provides funding for the Small Business Administration to make grants to such clubs that experienced decreases in gross revenue in 2020 of at least 75%, as measured against revenues in 2019 (or, if revenues were negatively affected by a natural disaster or weather disruption in 2019, by the average of revenues over the prior three-year period). The source of funding for the grants shall be funds appropriated under enacted COVID-19 relief legislation that have not been obligated and are no longer being used to carry out activities authorized under those laws. Grant amounts provided to any club may not exceed $10 million.

Save Our Afghan Allies Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to report to Congress a plan for admitting and relocating to the United States citizens of Afghanistan under an existing program. (The program provides special immigrant visas to eligible individuals who worked for U.S. or NATO forces in Afghanistan on or after October 7, 2001.)

Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2021 This bill requires federally funded entities to certify that they will not perform an abortion, and will not provide funds to any other entity that performs an abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers the woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The bill's requirements do not apply to hospitals, as long as the hospital does not provide funds to any non-hospital entity for abortions that are not otherwise excepted.

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. The State Department must report on the status of efforts to promote normalization of relations with Israel and other countries, including information on (1) laws that punish individuals for people-to-people relations with Israelis (i.e., anti-normalization laws), and (2) instances of the use of state-owned or state-operated media outlets to promote the prosecution of citizens or residents of Arab countries calling for peace with Israel.

United States–Israel Artificial Intelligence Center Act This bill requires the Department of State to establish the United States–Israel Artificial Intelligence Center to leverage the experience, knowledge, and expertise of institutions of higher education and private sector entities in the United States and Israel to develop more robust research and development cooperation in specified areas (e.g., machine learning, object detection, and speech recognition).

This resolution recognizes the 225th anniversary of the entry of Tennessee into the United States as the 16th state.