Maximum Pressure Act This bill expands sanctions and economic penalties on Iran. It also restricts the President from unilaterally lifting or waiving the sanctions or penalties and increases congressional oversight of them. Specifically, the bill requires the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions. Additionally, it modifies existing sanctions, including by (1) providing statutory authority for executive orders imposing sanctions; (2) applying sanctions to additional sectors of Iran's economy; and (3) broadening sanctionable conduct to cover, for example, assisting Iran with the acquisition of ballistic missiles and the complicity of Iranian officials in human rights violations in specified countries. The bill also requires reporting on licenses that authorize activities subject to sanctions. The bill prohibits U.S. representatives at the International Monetary Fund from voting to allow Iran's access to special drawing rights (a currency support tool) and places restrictions on financial transactions with Iran. The restrictions include requiring domestic financial institutions to implement special measures with respect to foreign financial institutions that conduct significant transactions connected to the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (a European mechanism that bypasses U.S. sanctions when carrying out trade with Iran). The Department of State must maintain the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' designation as a terrorist organization and must designate Ansharallah (or Houthis), which operates in Syria, as a foreign terrorist organization. The bill also requires reports on U.S. sanctions concerning Iran, the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program, and other matters.
Restoring Environments, Soils, Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural Economy Act of 2021 or the RESTORE Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA), at the request of a governor of a state, to select a forest landscape in the state on which to conduct a forest landscape project. For a project, USDA must carry out one or more specified management activities, including installing fuel breaks, conducting controlled burns, and removing dead trees.
End Child Trafficking Now Act This bill imposes restrictions related to adult aliens being admitted into the United States with a minor. An adult alien shall not be admitted with a minor unless the adult (1) presents documents or witness testimony proving that the adult is a relative or guardian of the minor, or (2) submits to a DNA test that proves such a relationship. The Department of Homeland Security shall request a DNA test only if the required relationship cannot be established by documents or testimony. An adult alien who does not consent to a requested DNA test shall be inadmissible. If the required relationship cannot be established and the immigration officer believes the alien is guilty of a felony offense, the officer may arrest the alien adult. The bill makes it a crime for an alien adult to knowingly use a minor to whom the adult is not a relative or guardian to enter the United States.
Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act This bill prohibits the Department of the Treasury from requiring a financial institution to report the transfers into and out of a financial account. This prohibition does not apply to laws or regulations in effect on October 1, 2021.
Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act or the SMART Act This bill modifies the application of a certain Medicare payment methodology for outpatient physical therapy services and outpatient occupational therapy services that are furnished by a therapy assistant. Under current law, effective January 1, 2022, payment for such services is 85% of the otherwise applicable rate. The bill delays this effective date by one year and excludes services that are furnished in rural or medically underserved areas from this payment methodology. The bill also specifies that supervision requirements for outpatient physical therapy services that are furnished through private practice may not be more stringent for purposes of Medicare coverage than under state law.
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to designate one week each year as Buddy Check Week for the purposes of organizing outreach events and educating veterans on how to conduct peer wellness checks. The VA shall ensure that the Veterans Crisis Line has a plan for handling the potential increase in calls that may occur during such week.
Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase the amounts payable for wartime disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Specifically, the VA must increase the amounts by the same percentage as the cost-of-living increase in benefits for Social Security recipients that is effective on December 1, 2021. The bill requires the VA to publish the amounts payable, as increased, in the Federal Register. The VA is authorized to make a similar adjustment to the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who have not received compensation for service-connected disability or death.
Better Enforcement of Grievous Offenses by unNaturalized Emigrants or the BE GONE Act This bill expands, for immigration purposes, the definition of aggravated felony to include sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence. (Under current law, a conviction for an aggravated felony is grounds for deportation and may bar an individual from other immigration-related benefits.)
Recreational Lands Self Defense Act This bill requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow an individual to possess a firearm in any area open to the public (other than a federal facility) at a Corps water resources development project as long as the individual's possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located.
This concurrent resolution supports the designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American children who died while attending an Indian boarding school in the United States.
Defense Domestic Producers Act of 2021 This bill adds certain items (e.g., armor on tactical ground vehicles) to the list of high priority goods and services that require review and analysis by the Department of Defense (DOD) in order to develop appropriate actions related to procurement and sourcing. DOD must also consider producers in the United States when reviewing the specified items to determine and develop appropriate actions related to restricting procurement.
Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Metrics Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to review the potential applications of artificial intelligence and digital technology to DOD platforms, processes, and operations. The bill also requires DOD to establish performance objectives and accompanying metrics for the incorporation of artificial intelligence and digital readiness into such platforms, processes, and operations.
