Protecting Guides and Outfitters from Coronavirus Vaccine Mandates in the Great Outdoors Act This bill prohibits the denying of certain permit applications for activities on federal lands and waters for reasons based on the coronavirus vaccination status of applicants or their employees. Specifically, the Department of the Interior shall not deny based on vaccination status (1) a commercial use authorization to provide services to visitors to National Park System units, or (2) a special recreation permit for specialized recreation uses of federal recreational lands and waters.
This bill generally aligns the position of podiatrists with that of physicians for pay and grade purposes within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Additionally, the bill replaces the Director of Podiatric Service position with a Podiatric Medical Director to be responsible for the operation of the podiatric service at the VHA. Such director must be a qualified doctor of podiatric medicine.
Reforming Disaster Recovery Act This bill addresses the response of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to disasters. The bill establishes the Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency at HUD to coordinate HUD disaster preparedness and response responsibilities. The office must also coordinate with other federal agencies in supporting recovery and resiliency activities. Further, the bill creates the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund to fund the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. The program must provide states, tribes, and communities with grants for rebuilding affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. Grantees are required to certify that funds will be administered in compliance with specified fair housing and civil rights laws. Grantees must also prioritize assistance for extremely low-, low-, and moderate-income victims of disasters, as well as other vulnerable groups. The bill also provides for increased data sharing regarding disasters, including by requiring HUD to share data with other federal agencies regarding disaster benefits and by requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration to share data on disaster benefit applicants with HUD.
Chaplains Memorial Preservation Act This bill authorizes the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF) to update and make corrections to certain memorials in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Specifically, NCMAF may update the memorial to Protestant chaplains with a granite, marble or other stone base to host the bronze plaque of the memorial; add another plaque to such base that includes the name of each chaplain who died while on active duty since the original memorial was placed; make updates and corrections to the memorials to Catholic chaplains and Jewish chaplains as needed; and make other updates as needed. Additionally, NCMAF is authorized to verify the names of chaplains with their respective military branch for memorialization in Arlington National Cemetery.
This resolution recognizes the importance of Christmas symbols and traditions. The resolution (1) disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas, and (2) supports the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.
This bill repeals the limitation on the cover over (i.e., payment) of taxes on certain distilled spirits into the treasuries of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also requires that certain amounts collected on rum transported to the United States that are covered over be transferred to the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust Fund.
Medical Device Integrity Act This bill provides the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to request records and information from an establishment that manufactures or otherwise prepares medical devices. Currently, the FDA only has statutory authority to make such requests to establishments that manufacture or otherwise prepare drugs. The bill also requires the FDA to include in its requests a rationale for requesting the information in question.
Protecting Access to Credit for Small Businesses Act This bill prohibits the Small Business Administration from directly making a loan under the 7(a) Program, which authorizes loans and loan guaranties to small businesses that meet certain requirements.
This bill requires that a discharge or dismissal of a member of the Armed Forces must be characterized as honorable in situations where the individual was discharged or dismissed solely for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Such individuals may not be denied retired or retainer pay or any benefits through the Department of Defense or Department of Veterans Affairs solely on the basis that they refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Congressional Review of Agency Legal Settlements Act of 2021 This bill requires federal agencies to submit certain settlement agreements to Congress and allows Congress to disapprove of such agreements. The bill applies to proposed voluntary compromise settlements that include (1) a financial award paid by an agency that is more than $10 million aggregated across all similarly situated cases or legal claims against the agency, or (2) an agreement to modify or alter an agency rule. Before an agency may enter into such an agreement, the agency must submit to Congress a report that includes specified information, such as the terms and class of claimants covered by the agreement. The bill (1) specifies the effect of passage of a joint resolution of disapproval related to such an agreement, and (2) provides for an expedited procedure for such resolutions.
Protecting Our Democracy Act This bill addresses issues involving (1) abuses of presidential power; (2) checks and balances, accountability, and transparency; and (3) election integrity and security. Specifically, regarding abuses of presidential power, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the President to submit to Congress specified materials relating to certain pardons, prohibits presidential self-pardons, suspends the statute of limitations for federal offenses committed by a sitting President or Vice President, prohibits the acceptance of foreign or domestic emoluments, and sets forth provisions regarding Office of Government Ethics and Office of Special Counsel jurisdiction and enforcement authority. To address checks and balances, accountability, and transparency, the bill authorizes specified actions to enforce congressional subpoenas, imposes limits on presidential declarations of emergencies, requires DOJ to maintain a log of specified communications between it and the White House, requires cause for removal of inspectors general, increases whistleblower protections, and requires a candidate for President or Vice President to provide copies of tax returns for the 10 most recent taxable years to the Federal Election Commission. To address election integrity and security, the bill requires federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts, makes various changes to requirements concerning foreign donations to political campaigns and candidates and foreign contributions to online electioneering communications, prohibits distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual media prior to an election (i.e., deepfakes), and establishes a program to support states and localities transition to ranked choice voting systems.
Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act This bill makes several budgetary, technical, and procedural changes, particularly in relation to Medicare and increasing the debt limit. Specifically, the bill continues to exempt Medicare from sequestration until March 31, 2022. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.) The bill also establishes expedited Senate procedures for considering legislation to increase the debt limit. The procedures limit debate, waive points of order, and prohibit amendments. The procedures may only be used once and expire after January 16, 2022. Additionally, the bill (1) temporarily extends other provisions under Medicare, including a payment increase under the physician fee schedule; and (2) requires any debits recorded for FY2022 on the statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) scorecards to be deducted from the scorecards for 2022 and added to the scorecards for 2023.
