Severing Putin's Immense Gains from Oil Transfers Act of 2022 or the SPIGOT Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the importation of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia. The President may waive this prohibition by meeting certain requirements, such as certifying to Congress that the import prohibition would unduly impact energy prices for U.S. consumers. The bill also requires the President to impose sanctions on foreign individuals and entities that are involved with (1) importing crude oil and petroleum products from Russia to the United States, and (2) acts of corruption or serious human rights abuses.
Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act This bill prohibits an employer from terminating or significantly altering the employer-provided health insurance coverage of an employee engaged in a lawful strike. An employer that violates this prohibition is subject to a maximum civil penalty of $50,000 for each violation.
Arbitration Fairness for Consumers Act This bill deems as invalid or unenforceable a predispute arbitration agreement or joint-action waiver related to a consumer financial product or service.
SESTA/FOSTA Examination of Secondary Effects for Sex Workers Study Act or the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to study the impacts of the reduction in access to certain websites and other interactive computer services resulting from the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 on individuals engaged in adult, consensual sex work. Specifically, HHS must study the impacts of the reduction on the health and safety of individuals engaged in transactional sex while DOJ must study the impacts of the reduction on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
Job Protection Act This bill reduces from 12 months to 90 days the employment period required for employees (including federal employees) to become eligible for family and medical leave. Additionally, the bill makes the family and medical leave requirements applicable to all employers (currently, the requirements apply to employers with 50 or more employees).
This bill establishes "Gold Star Families Day" as a legal public holiday, observed on the last Monday in September. It directly affects all Gold Star families - defined as immediate family members of service members who died while serving or from service-connected injuries - by creating a national day of recognition. The key mechanism is amending the U.S. Code (5 U.S.C. §6103) to add this holiday to the federal calendar, replacing the existing holiday previously observed on that date. The bill focuses on formal recognition of sacrifice, not new benefits or programs.
Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act This bill designates specified Bureau of Land Management land in Oregon as the Rogue Canyon and Molalla Recreation Areas and adds approximately 59,512 acres of federal land to the Wild Rogue Wilderness. The Department of the Interior, for public land, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), for National Forest System land, must conduct a wildfire risk assessment that covers the recreation areas, the Wild Rogue Wilderness, and any adjacent federal land. Interior and USDA must develop plans to mitigate wildfire risk to communities located near the land. No new permanent or temporary roads shall be constructed within the recreation areas except as necessary for public safety or to implement the wildfire mitigation plan. USDA may take measures within such wilderness additions as are necessary to control fire, insects, and disease. All federal surface and subsurface land within the recreation areas or the wilderness additions is withdrawn from entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing, geothermal leasing, or mineral materials. The bill also withdraws identified federally owned lands and interests within the Hunter Creek, Pistol River Headwaters Withdrawal Proposal, or the Rough and Ready and Baldface Creeks Mineral Withdrawal Proposal in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, and any land or interest in land located within such withdrawal proposals that is acquired by the federal government.
Teacher Debt Relief Act This bill allows an eligible teacher to use the same teaching service to qualify for both the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
This joint resolution expresses that Congress recognizes that the United States' nuclear testing program and radioactive waste disposal in the Marshall Islands caused irreparable material and intangible harm to the people of those islands, apologizes on behalf of the United States to the individuals and families of the Marshall Islands for the hardships they have endured as a result of the U.S. nuclear testing program and radioactive waste disposal, and recognizes that it is incumbent on the United States to open dialogue regarding the nuclear legacy of the United States in Marshall Islands during any negotiation of the Compact of Free Association or its subsidiary agreements.
No Most Favored Nation Trading with Russia Act This bill withdraws normal trade relations treatment from Russia. Additionally, the bill requires the President to encourage U.S. allies and partners to (1) consider taking similar actions; and (2) condemn, at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Further, the President must direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the WTO to seek suspension of Russia's membership in the WTO. The President may proclaim modifications to the applicable duty rates on products from Russia (under column 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule) if the President determines that the modifications are necessary to protect the essential security of the United States.
Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Whistleblower Protection Act This bill revises protections for the rights of whistleblowers of nuclear safety violations. Specifically, the bill clarifies that whistleblower protection rights may be enforced against any employers (e.g., the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission).
Safer Seas Act This bill addresses sexual assault and sexual harassment in the U.S. maritime industry. Among other provisions, the bill requires the U.S. Coast Guard to revoke or suspend a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner's document to an individual who has been convicted of sexual assault within the previous 10 years and to revoke or suspend such credentials to an individual who has been convicted of sexual harassment within the previous 5 years; provides protection of seaman against discrimination for those who report or intend to report sexual assault or sexual harassment incidents; directs the Coast Guard to promulgate regulations related to possession and consumption of alcohol by crewmembers aboard documented vessels; requires non-passenger carrying, ocean-going, commercial vessels to install and maintain a video surveillance system with audio capability in areas adjacent to bedrooms and limit access to the surveillance to law enforcement officials and victims of sexual assault or sexual harassment; and creates new reporting mandates and procedures for crew and vessel owners to report sexual assault or sexual harassment.
