Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act of 2021 or the HAVANA Act of 2021 This bill specifically authorizes the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and other agencies to provide payments to agency personnel who incur brain injuries from hostilities while on assignment. Specifically, the bill allows agency personnel and their families to receive payments for brain injuries that are incurred (1) during a period of assignment to a foreign duty station; (2) in connection with war, insurgency, hostile acts, terrorist activity, or other agency-designated incidents; and (3) not as the result of willful misconduct. The bill's authority applies to injuries incurred before, on, or after the date of the bill's enactment. Agencies must submit classified reports on the bill's implementation, including the number of payments made and the amount of each payment. Since 2016, some intelligence, diplomatic, and other governmental personnel have reported experiencing unusual cognitive and neurological impairments while on assignment (particularly abroad), the source of which is currently under investigation. Symptoms were first reported by personnel stationed in Cuba and have since been collectively referred to as Havana Syndrome .
Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Company, known as the Ghost Army , collectively, in recognition of its service during World War II.
Rural STEM Education Research Act This bill specifies federal scientific research and development efforts towards STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science) workforce development and rural STEM education. (Sec. 3) The bill amends the objectives of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program to include the provision to secondary schools of information about the job skills needed in manufacturing companies, and the promotion and expansion of certification systems offered through local high schools. The activities of a manufacturing extension center are expanded to include local high schools in the facilitation of collaborations and partnerships between manufacturing companies and schools to help those entities better understand the specific needs of manufacturers and to help manufacturers better understand the skill sets that students learn in school programs. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) must award prizes to stimulate research and development of creative technologies in order to deploy affordable and reliable broadband connectivity to underserved rural communities. NIST may award not more than a total of $5 million in prizes. (Sec. 4) The Office of Science and Technology Policy must establish a broadband research and development working group to address national research challenges and opportunities for improving broadband access and adoption across the United States. (Sec. 5) The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under which the National Academy of Sciences agrees to evaluate aspects of STEM education and workforce development in rural areas. (Sec. 6) The Government Accountability Office shall conduct a study on the engagement of rural populations in federal STEM programs. (Sec. 7) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) programs shall consider modifications to award structures to increase the capacity of rural communities to provide quality STEM education and STEM workforce development programming to students and teachers. (Sec. 8) The NSF must award grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations for (1) research and development to advance innovative approaches to support and sustain high-quality STEM teaching in rural schools, (2) research and development of programming to identify the barriers rural students face in accessing high-quality STEM education, (3) development of innovative solutions to improve the participation and advancement of rural students in grades Pre-K through 12 in STEM studies, and (4) research on online STEM education courses for rural communities. The NSF may establish a pilot program of regional cohorts in rural areas to provide peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research experiences for rural STEM educators of students in grades Pre-K through 12 in order to build an ecosystem of cooperation among educators, researchers, academia, and local industry.
This resolution expresses support for the designation of DIPG Awareness Day. DIPG is diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a terminal childhood brain cancer.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it is the duty of the federal government to expand and strengthen the care economy. The care economy consists of child care, home health, and similar sectors where caregiving is a predominant feature of the work.
Rural Jobs Act This bill allocates an additional $500 million in 2022 and 2023 for new markets tax credit investments in the Rural Jobs Zone (an area comprised of low-income communities with populations not greater than 50,000 that are not adjacent to an urbanized area). The bill also requires that at least 25% of such investments be made in areas that are persistent poverty counties, high migration rural counties, or both.
CEO Accountability and Responsibility Act This bill increases the corporate income tax rate for publicly traded corporations that pay their chief executive officers or highest paid employees more than 100 times the median compensation of all their U.S. employees or that increase the number of contracted or foreign employees. The bill also requires an executive agency, in the evaluation of bids or proposals for federal contracts, to give preference to a bidder that has a compensation ratio of highly paid to all employees of less than 50 to 1 in the previous calendar year.
Institutional Grants for New Infrastructure, Technology, and Education for HBCU Excellence Act or the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act This bill establishes a grant program to support long-term improvements of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and graduate programs at HBCUs. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to HBCUs to improve campus facilities. A recipient must use grant funds for certain activities, such as constructing or renovating facilities, carrying out major repairs, and strengthening the safety and security of a campus. Any new construction, modernization, or renovation projects must meet building code and energy and water conservation requirements. Further, HBCUs must seek to procure contracts from certain small businesses, including those owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans. The bill prohibits the use of grant funds for specified activities, including for the payment of routine and predictable maintenance costs, minor repairs, and utility bills. The Government Accountability Office must study the implementation of the grant program. The bill also requires ED to repay the outstanding balance of principal, interest, fees, and costs and any related reimbursements for certain capital financing loans.
Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2019 or the RPM Act of 2019 [ sic ] This bill authorizes the modification of a vehicle's air emission controls for vehicles that are not legal for operation on a street or highway and are used solely for competition.
Medicare for All Act of 2021 This bill establishes a national health insurance program that is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Among other requirements, the program must (1) cover all U.S. residents; (2) provide for automatic enrollment of individuals upon birth or residency in the United States; and (3) cover items and services that are medically necessary or appropriate to maintain health or to diagnose, treat, or rehabilitate a health condition, including hospital services, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, dental and vision services, and long-term care. The bill prohibits cost-sharing (e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments) and other charges for covered services. Additionally, private health insurers and employers may only offer coverage that is supplemental to, and not duplicative of, benefits provided under the program. Health insurance exchanges and specified federal health programs terminate upon program implementation. However, the program does not affect coverage provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Indian Health Service. The bill also establishes a series of implementing provisions relating to (1) health care provider participation; (2) HHS administration; and (3) payments and costs, including the requirement that HHS negotiate prices for prescription drugs. Individuals who are age 18 or younger, age 55 or older, or already enrolled in Medicare may enroll in the program starting one year after enactment of this bill; other individuals may buy into the program at this time. The program must be fully implemented two years after enactment.
End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions relating to federal funding for, and health insurance coverage of, gender reassignment medical interventions, which include surgical remedies and hormone therapy arising from a conflict between an individual's gender identity and the sex the individual has or was identified as having at birth. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for gender reassignment medical interventions or for health coverage that includes such interventions. Additionally, such interventions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. Under current law, coverage of these interventions through Medicare and Medicaid is generally determined at the state level. The bill's restrictions regarding the use of federal funds do not apply to treatment of individuals with medically verifiable disorders of sex development, such as individuals born with atypical development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex. The bill also prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for gender reassignment medical interventions. Further, plans that include coverage for such interventions are not eligible for federal subsidies.
Protecting Children From Experimentation Act of 2021 This bill establishes a new criminal offense for performing gender reassignment medical interventions on minors. It also provides that a minor who receives such an intervention may bring a civil action against each person who performed that intervention. The bill defines these interventions as certain surgeries or the use of hormones to change the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that is discordant with the individual's biological sex. It excludes, however, interventions in cases where an individual has ambiguous external biological sex characteristics or where a physician has determined that an individual does not have normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action. An individual who performs these interventions on a minor is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both. A minor who receives these medical interventions may not be arrested or prosecuted for an offense under this bill.
