This resolution requires the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate to establish the SFC Sean Cooley and SPC Christopher Horton Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program for family members of members of the Armed Forces who die in the line of duty or of veterans who die of service-connected injuries. Under the fellowship program, an individual may serve a 24-month fellowship in a Senator's office.
Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2021 This bill allows certain individuals to sue and recover damages for harm from exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987. This action is available only to individuals who were exposed to contaminated water for at least 30 days. The bill prohibits the U.S. government from asserting specified immunity from litigation in response to such a lawsuit. The bill also prohibits an individual who brings such an action from bringing a separate tort action against the United States based on the same harm.
Judgment Fund Accountability Act of 2021 This bill prohibits payments from the Judgment Fund to individuals who entered or attempted to enter the United States unlawfully. (The Judgment Fund is an account for paying judgments and settlements against the United States.)
Employment Freedom for All Act This bill prohibits an employer from enforcing a noncompete agreement with an employee, or former employee, who has been fired for not receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general are authorized to enforce this bill.
Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from establishing a condition for a cemetery grant that restricts the ability of a state to inter certain reservists (or their spouses and children) at a state-owned veterans' cemetery solely because such individuals are ineligible for burial in an open national cemetery. Specifically, as a condition for grants, the VA cannot restrict the ability of a state to inter a member of a reserve component whose service was terminated under honorable conditions; member of the Army National Guard or Air National Guard whose service was terminated under honorable conditions; member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps of the Army, Navy, or Air Force who died under honorable conditions while a member; and spouse, minor child, or unmarried adult child of any member described above. The VA is prohibited from (1) denying an application for a grant solely on the basis that the recipient state may use funds to expand, improve, operate, or maintain a veterans' cemetery to allow for the internment of the specified individuals; and (2) enforcing certain conditions on grants for state veterans' cemeteries that were established before the date of enactment of this bill. The bill also provides for plot allowances for the individuals listed in the bill.
Commission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and Veterans Act This bill establishes the Commission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and Veterans. The Commission must identify and compile information about the history of military policy regarding homosexuality from 1778 onward, including regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) sexual orientation and gender identity. The Commission must hold public hearings, gather public testimony, examine lasting and disparate impacts of the discriminatory policies on the physical and mental well-being of members of the Armed Forces, and make recommendations on appropriate remedies.
This resolution (1) expresses support for the designation of the week of November 1-November 5, 2021, as National Family Service Learning Week, (2) recognizes the importance of family service learning in cultivating civic engagement and community investment, and (3) encourages the public to support family service learning and community development programs. Family service learning is a multigenerational problem-solving approach that utilizes active participation to meet community needs and develop the skillsets of children and families.
Fairness and Accountability in Underwriting Chinese Institutions Act or the FAUCI Act This bill prohibits making any federal funding available to laboratories or research institutions in China for gain-of-function research. The President may waive this prohibition for national security interests. (Under the bill, gain-of-function research generally involves the enhancement of potential pandemic pathogens or related risky research with potentially dangerous pathogens.) Furthermore, if the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services determines that a National Institutes of Health official, employee, or grantee has intentionally misled or omitted information in a relevant disclosure (e.g., to Congress) about federal funding for international gain-of-function research, such a person shall be ineligible for any federal funding or federal employment.
Prohibiting Taxpayer Funded Settlements for Illegal Immigrants Act This bill prohibits using federal funds to make settlement payments to compensate any individuals for being separated from family members while detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection if the detention was (1) a result of the individual improperly entering (or attempting to improperly enter) the United States, and (2) in accordance with a Department of Justice memorandum that adopted a zero-tolerance policy for such improper entry into the United States.
WALL Act of 2021 This bill appropriates $25 billion for the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and addresses other issues related to immigration. As offsets to this spending, the bill restricts the child tax credit, earned income credits, and lifetime learning credits to those with Social Security numbers and not prohibited from employment in the United States. Also, individuals who file taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) instead of a Social Security number must pay a fee ($300 for each individual on the tax return who was issued an ITIN). The bill restricts eligibility for certain federally-funded benefits, including unemployment compensation, supplemental nutrition assistance, and housing benefits, to those eligible to work in the United States. Agencies administering such benefits must use the E-Verify program to confirm the eligibility of applicants for such benefits. This bill also sets fines for aliens who improperly enter the United States or overstay their visas.
Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act This bill extends the customs waters territory of the United States. Under current law, customs waters means waters within four leagues of the coast of the United States. This bill revises the definition to include (1) the territorial sea of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 5928, dated December 27, 1988, that extended such limits to 12 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States; and (2) the contiguous zone of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 7219, dated September 2, 1999, that extended such limits to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States.
Supplying America Needs Truckers Aged 18 Act or the SANTA 18 Act This bill exempts drivers who transport goods from a port of entry and another place within the same state from age restrictions and other requirements that apply to federal commercial driver's licenses.
