Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding VA Benefits Act or the GUARD VA Benefits Act This bill imposes criminal penalties and/or fines on individuals for directly or indirectly soliciting, contracting for, charging, or receiving any unauthorized fee or compensation with respect to the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits. The attempted commission of such offenses is also punishable by fine or imprisonment.
This bill addresses consultation after approval of certain land and resource management plans and land use plans. Specifically, the bill provides that the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management shall not be required to reinitiate consultation under the Endangered Species Act on a completed land resource management plan or a completed land use plan that has no on-the-ground effects when a new species is listed or a new critical habitat is designated under that act, or new information reveals effects of such plan that may affect a species listed or critical habitat designated under that act in a manner or to an extent not previously considered.
Arrest Murderers not Ministers Act This bill specifies that in order for the federal government to prosecute individuals for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (which prohibits forceful or threats of forceful interference with an individual's access to reproductive health services or exercise of religious freedom), the violation must involve intentional physical injuries or damage. Any funds that would have been used for prosecutions that are prohibited under the bill must be used to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes or other specified offenses.
Sun River Hydropower Authorization Act This bill authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to construct, operate, and maintain facilities (e.g., dams) in the Sun River project in Montana for hydroelectric power generation.
This joint resolution nullifies a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule published on April 26, 2022, concerning regulatory definitions and identification of firearms.
Protecting Kids from Candy-Flavored Drugs Act This bill establishes enhanced criminal penalties for certain federal drug offenses involving the manufacture or distribution of candy-flavored controlled substances or similar products for minors. Specifically, the bill imposes enhanced criminal penalties for a federal drug offense that involves manufacturing, creating, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance listed in schedule I or II that is combined with a candy or drink, marketed to appear similar to a candy or drink, or modified by flavoring or coloring to appear similar to a candy or drink. To be subject to an enhanced penalty, the individual must have knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that the controlled substance will be distributed, dispensed, or sold to an individual who is under 18 years of age.
Protect Children's Innocence Act This bill places restrictions on the provision of gender affirming care. Gender affirming care includes performing surgery, administering medication, or performing other procedures for the purpose of changing the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that differs from the individual's biological sex. Specifically, the bill makes it a felony to perform any gender affirming care on a minor and it permits a minor on whom such care is performed to bring a civil action against each individual who provided the care. Additionally, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for gender affirming care or for health insurance that covers such care. Such care may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. The bill also prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for gender affirming care. Further, plans that include coverage for such care are not eligible for federal subsidies. Finally, the bill prohibits institutions of higher education from offering instruction in gender affirming care. It also makes any non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) who performs gender affirming care on a minor deportable and inadmissible to the United States. The restrictions under this bill do not apply to the provision of care under certain circumstances such as when an individual does not have normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action.
Shall Not Be Infringed Act This bill repeals the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law on June 25, 2022. The act makes various changes to federal firearms laws, including to expand background check requirements, broaden the scope of existing restrictions, and establish new criminal offenses. The act also reauthorizes, funds, and supports various programs, grants, and activities to promote access to behavioral and mental health services, enhance school safety and security initiatives, and address gun violence in communities.
Border Safety and Security Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to suspend the entry of any non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) without valid entry documents during any period when DHS cannot detain such an individual or return the individual to a foreign country contiguous to the United States. A state may sue DHS to enforce this requirement. (Under current law, non-U.S. nationals who arrive at the border without entry documents are generally subject to expedited removal. However, if such an individual is found to have a credible fear of persecution, they are typically subject to detention while their asylum claim is being considered.) The bill also authorizes DHS to suspend the entry of non-U.S. nationals without entry documents at the border if DHS determines that such a suspension is necessary to achieve operational control over such a border.
HR 7415 would repeal the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act, which prohibited firearms within 1,000 feet of school grounds. It removes specific references to school zones from federal gun law provisions in Title 18 of the U.S. Code. This change would eliminate the federal prohibition on firearms in designated school zones, altering the scope of existing gun law enforcement. The bill does not create new safety measures but modifies how federal gun laws apply to school areas.
Protecting Americans' Medical Rights Act This bill allows an individual to file a civil action for injuries sustained as a result of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine against a government entity that imposed such vaccination requirement. In addition, a state or local government receiving federal funding related to COVID-19 waives their sovereign immunity against such a civil action.
No Backdoor Gun Control Act of 2022 This bill removes the category of any other weapon from the definition of firearm under the National Firearms Act. The bill treats persons who acquire or possess any other weapon as meeting registration or licensing requirements under the National Firearms Act. The bill requires the Department of Justice to destroy any records relating to the registration of any other weapon not later than one year after the enactment of this bill.
