Stop Military Selective Service Registration Act This bill repeals the Military Selective Service Act, which requires most men of ages 18 through 25 years old to register with the Selective Service System in case a draft is reinstated. The assets, contracts, property, unexpended balances and records held by the Selective Service System must be transferred to the Office of Selective Service Records (reestablished by this bill) upon the repeal. The bill prohibits the reenactment of the Military Selective Service Act or reestablishment of the Selective Service System unless there is a vote by two-thirds of each chamber of Congress.
End the Draft Act This bill repeals the Military Selective Service Act, which requires most men of ages 18 through 25 years old to register with the Selective Service System in case a draft is reinstated. The assets, contracts, property, unexpended balances, and records held by the Selective Service System must be transferred to the General Services Administration upon the repeal. The Office of Personnel Management must assist officers and employees of the Selective Service System to transfer to other positions in the executive branch.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it is the duty of the Department of Defense (DOD) to reduce the overall environmental impact of military activities and missions and to monitor and report greenhouse gas emissions from all of its operations. The resolution also suggests that DOD take other environmentally conscious actions, including committing to annual greenhouse gas emission reporting mechanisms and repurposing and managing its properties to promote carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act This bill prohibits contributions or donations by foreign nationals in connection with state or local ballot initiatives or referenda.
Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2021 This bill establishes and modifies certain requirements relating to Medicare payments for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services. Specifically, the bill (1) requires the payment system for ASC services to feature certain positive annual adjustments equivalent to those made with respect to hospital outpatient department (OPD) services; (2) revises quality reporting requirements to permit publicly available, side-by-side comparisons of quality measures for ASCs and OPDs in the same geographic area; and (3) requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), when excluding requested procedures from the list of those approved to be performed in ASCs, to cite specified reasons for doing so. With respect to excluding procedures from the approved list for ASCs, the CMS may not cite as a basis for exclusion that a procedure can only be reported using an unlisted surgical procedure code. (Physicians sometimes use unlisted codes when performing new procedures or services if no existing code is adequately descriptive.) The bill also limits the copayment amount for ASC services under Medicare to that of the inpatient hospital deductible.
Saving Workers by Eliminating Economic Tampering and Ensuring Reliability Act or the SWEETER Act This bill eliminates certain Department of Agriculture (USDA) sugar subsidy programs. Specifically, the bill eliminates (1) the price support loan program available to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets; (2) the sugar marketing allotments and tariff-rate quotas that limit the quantities of domestically produced sugar that processors may sell and the sugar that may be imported under lower tariff rates; and (3) the feedstock flexibility program for bioenergy producers, which operates to avoid loan forfeitures to the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation by requiring USDA to purchase surplus sugar from domestic processors for resale to bioenergy producers.
This bill rescinds specified funds that were provided to the Department of Agriculture for assistance and support for socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, and forest land owners and operators. The bill makes the rescinded funds available for scholarships at 1890 Institutions (i.e., historically Black colleges and universities that belong to the U.S. land-grant university system).
HRES 754 is a non-binding resolution expressing the House of Representatives' opposition to proposed "punitive natural gas taxes" on U.S. businesses, families, and workers. It cites claims that such taxes would raise average energy bills by 17%, reduce GDP by $9 billion, and eliminate 90,000 jobs, while disproportionately harming low-income households. The resolution argues that opposing these taxes supports U.S. energy security, national security, and continued leadership in reducing emissions through domestic natural gas production. As a procedural resolution, it does not create law but formally states the House's position against this policy approach.
Arm Taiwan Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish the Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative to accelerate Taiwan's deployment of asymmetric defense capabilities to the level required to deter or defeat an invasion by China. From FY2023 through FY2027, the bill requires DOD to use appropriations provided for the initiative to provide assistance to accelerate Taiwan's asymmetric defense capabilities so that Taiwan, with limited initial U.S. Armed Forces support, is able to (1) delay, degrade, and deny attempts by China's army to enter or transit the Taiwan Strait (and adjoining seas) or seize control of key territory in Taiwan; and (2) prevent China from neutralizing or rendering ineffective Taiwan's government. The bill imposes certain requirements related to such assistance, such as periodic certifications by DOD to Congress that Taiwan's government has committed to (and has made progress toward) spending at least 3% of Taiwan's national gross domestic product on defense on an annual basis by the end of FY2027.
Pets Belong With Families Act This bill prohibits public housing agencies from imposing breed restrictions on pets owned by residents of public housing units. The bill continues to allow public housing agencies to prohibit ownership of dangerous animals in public housing, but prohibits classification as dangerous by breed and requires that any such classification be based on specific behaviors or actions of the animal.
Exposing China's Belt and Road Investment in America Act of 2021 This bill requires the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review certain investments made by China in the United States. Specifically, the committee must review any investment by a foreign person that (1) involves the acquisition of real estate in the United States and the establishment of a U.S. business on such real estate, and (2) could result in direct or indirect control of that U.S. business by China. A party to any such investment must submit to the committee a declaration containing basic information regarding the transaction.
Help Ensure Lower Patient Copays Act or the HELP Copays Act This bill requires health insurance plans to apply certain payments made by, or on behalf of, a plan enrollee toward a plan's cost-sharing requirements. Specifically, plans must apply third-party payments, financial assistance, discounts, product vouchers, and other reductions in out-of-pocket expenses toward the requirements.
