Keep Schools Open Act This bill generally prohibits federal education funding for elementary or secondary schools, local or state educational agencies, or institutions of higher education (IHEs) that do not provide in-person instruction. Specifically, the bill prohibits a school, educational agency, or IHE from receiving federal education funds unless the school, educational agency, or IHE (1) demonstrates to the Department of Education (ED) that it provides in-person instruction to students, and (2) certifies to ED that it will not discontinue in-person instruction for students due to COVID-19. This prohibition does not apply to a school, educational agency, or IHE that provides distance education or other virtual instruction to students in the regular course of its operations for reasons that are unrelated to COVID-19.
Respecting the Rights of Organ Donor Recipients Act of 2022 This bill prohibits limiting access to organ transplants based on an individual's COVID-19 vaccination status. Specifically, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network may not (1) request an individual's COVID-19 vaccination status when considering whether to place the individual on an organ transplant waitlist, or (2) require the vaccination in order for an individual to receive an organ transplant. This network is a public-private partnership that links organizations (e.g., transplantation centers and laboratories) in the organ donation and transplantation system.
Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2022 or the EARN IT Act of 2022 This bill revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online sexual exploitation of children. The bill establishes the National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention. The commission must develop best practices for interactive computer services providers (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, the bill limits the liability protections of interactive computer service providers with respect to claims alleging violations of child sexual exploitation laws. The bill replaces various statutory references to child pornography and material that contains child pornography with child sexual abuse material . Finally, the bill makes changes to the reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers) who report apparent instances of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Among the changes, the bill requires providers to report facts and circumstances sufficient to identify and locate each minor and each involved individual. The bill also increases the amount of time that providers must preserve the contents of a report.
Improving Cybersecurity of Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Local Governments Act This bill requires reporting and other efforts to improve the cybersecurity of small entities. These include small businesses, governments (or certain governmental bodies) that represent populations of less than 50,000, and small nonprofits. Specifically, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) must periodically report on and make recommendations about cybersecurity policies and controls for small entities. CISA, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Minority Business Development Agency must (1) promote the report, including by making it available through their respective websites; and (2) make voluntary training and technical assistance available to employees of small entities concerning cybersecurity recommendations identified in the report. In addition, the Department of Commerce must report to Congress about improving the cybersecurity of small entities. Further, the SBA must collect information from small businesses concerning cybersecurity matters and report to Congress about the cybersecurity of small businesses.
Stop Arduous Vaccine Enforcement Act of 2022 or the SAVE Act of 2022 This bill prohibits transplant centers from discriminating against an individual on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status for purposes of determining eligibility or assigning priority for organ transplants.
Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2022 This bill addresses federal information security management, notification and remediation of cybersecurity incidents, and the roles of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA must perform, on an ongoing and continuous basis, assessments of federal risk posture. The bill requires evaluation by each agency of whether additional cybersecurity procedures are appropriate at least once every three years. An agency, as expeditiously as practicable and without unreasonable delay, and within 45 days after it has a reasonable basis to conclude that a breach has occurred, must (1) determine whether notice to any individual potentially affected by the breach is appropriate based on a risk assessment; and (2) as appropriate, provide written notice to each individual potentially affected. Notification may be delayed under specified circumstances. Each agency must provide any information relating to a major incident to CISA, the OMB, the Office of the National Cyber Director, the agency's office of inspector general, the Government Accountability Office, and Congress. An agency's contractors and grant recipients must notify the agency of an incident involving federal information within a specified time frame. Each agency shall develop training for individuals at the agency with access to federal information or information systems on how to identify and respond to an incident. CISA must establish a program to provide ongoing, hypothesis-driven threat-hunting services on the network of each agency. The bill establishes specified pilot programs to enhance federal cybersecurity.
Fair Chance Improvement Act This bill revises provisions regarding the prohibition on federal contractors, including defense contractors, inquiring about applicants' criminal histories prior to conditional offers of employment. The bill allows the Department of Labor to investigate compliance by a contractor by conducting a compliance evaluation. Currently, Labor investigates compliance pursuant to an applicant's complaint. The bill also expands the sanctions that Labor may impose on a contractor with more than one violation of the prohibition.
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 11 Robert Smalls Parkway Suite C, in Beaufort, South Carolina, as the "Robert Smalls Post Office."
SRES 501 designates the week of January 23-29, 2022, as "National School Choice Week" through a symbolic Senate resolution. The resolution encourages parents to learn about K-12 education options - including public schools, charters, private schools, and homeschooling - and urges the public to host events raising awareness of educational choice. It does not create new policies or affect any individuals or institutions, as it is a ceremonial designation focused solely on promoting public awareness. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the Senate on February 1, 2022.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) any giant panda born in the United States should belong to the United States, and (2) the United States should seek the coordination of its allies to establish collaborative giant panda breeding programs.
This bill revises membership of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Currently, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have statutorily designated seats on the five-member board. The bill removes this requirement and bars any officer of either agency from holding seats on the board. Additionally, the bill revises the continuation of service requirements to limit a board member's service beyond the end of their term.
Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Services Company, known collectively as the Ghost Army , in recognition of unique and highly distinguished service during World War II.
