This resolution commemorates the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm's 100-hour ground campaign, honors the legacy of the 697,000 U.S. Desert Storm veterans, and pays tribute to the 299 men and women who lost their lives.
This resolution opposes lifting specified sanctions on Iran and resolves that these sanctions may be terminated only after Iran has ceased providing support for acts of international terrorism and has dismantled its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and related technologies.
This resolution urges President Biden to implement the Biden administration's climate agenda at the White House by prohibiting use of petroleum-based products and energy sources.
This resolution expresses support for the goals and ideas of Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a painful condition in which the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
This resolution declares that (1) the United States needs a Marshall Plan for Moms to revitalize and restore mothers in the workforce; and (2) mothers, especially mothers of color have been pushed to the brink of economic, social, and emotional collapse during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic because of the existing economic and social inequalities women have long faced. The resolution also states that any relief and long-term recovery package to address the COVID-19 crisis must recognize and rebuild moms in the workforce by including certain policies such as establishing a robust paid leave plan; rebuilding and stabilizing the child care industry; providing necessary child poverty reduction tools for families' economic security that include recurring child benefits and an expanded and improved child tax credit and earned income tax credit; establishing an expanded unemployment insurance program that benefits struggling workers, including those experiencing long-term unemployment; raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour or higher for all minimum wage workers; and providing access to mental health support for mothers. Finally, the resolution declares that employers and policymakers must prioritize addressing the economic cliff facing mothers and make permanent the policies set forth in this resolution so that mothers are protected against any future economic calamities.
E-Verify Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop an electronic employment eligibility verification system modeled after and to replace E-Verify, which allows employers and recruiters to verify the immigration status of new hires and employees. The bill also requires all employers to use this new system and addresses other related issues. Currently, only some employers, such as federal contractors, are required to use E-Verify. The bill phases in the mandatory use of the system with different deadlines for various types of employers to start using the system. Generally, all employers must use the system within four years of the system's implementation. An employer who takes an employment-related action based on good faith reliance on the system shall not be liable in a civil or criminal case based on that action. DHS shall (1) develop various tools, including a photo checking tool for employers and a tool for an individuals to verify their own status; (2) establish procedures to allow individuals to stop the system from using identifying information belonging to that individual or that individual's child; (3) establish procedures to allow individuals to file complaints about violations relating to the employment of unauthorized aliens; and (4) provide grants to states that allow DHS to access driver's license information to use with the system. The bill also increases civil and criminal penalties related to employing unauthorized aliens. Employers convicted of hiring unauthorized aliens may be debarred from receiving federal contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements.
Amateur Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2021 This bill provides standards relating to compensation for the use of the names, images, and likenesses of amateur intercollegiate athletes and protections for these athletes. Specifically, compensation for such an athlete may only be provided by unaffiliated third parties. Currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association and colleges generally prohibit student athletes from receiving compensation. A national amateur athletic association or institution of higher education may not punish an athlete in an amateur intercollegiate athletic event or competition based on the athlete having entered into an agency contract with an amateur athlete representative certified by the Amateur Intercollegiate Athletics Corporation (AIAC) established by this bill. An amateur intercollegiate athletics association shall allow an amateur intercollegiate athlete to transfer from one institution of higher education to another at least once without losing or delaying eligibility for intercollegiate athletics if specified conditions are met. The AIAC shall serve as a clearinghouse for best practices with respect to the rights and protections of amateur intercollegiate athletes who enter into agency and endorsement contracts. The bill requires institutions of higher education to provide a certain level of health care coverage for such athletes. Such institutions must make specified legally binding disclosures to each athlete before he or she commits to enroll in or attend the institution. The institution must comply with requirements of this bill in order to participate in certain federal student financial aid programs.
Countering Chinese Propaganda Act This bill directs the President to impose asset- and visa-blocking sanctions on foreign individuals and entities engaged in certain acts of malign disinformation. Specifically, the President shall impose sanctions on an individual or entity that knowingly commits a significant act of malign disinformation on behalf of a foreign government or political party to influence certain activities in the United States for the purpose of harming (1) U.S. national security, or (2) the safety and security of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. The Department of State shall report to Congress a determination of whether the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which engages in disinformation campaigns and other activities, or any of its officials, falls within the sanctions provided under this bill.
Fostering and Realizing Electrification by Encouraging Zero Emission Refrigeration Trucks Act of 2021 or the FREEZER Trucks Act of 2021 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a pilot program to award grants, rebates, or low-cost revolving loans for electrifying or retiring diesel-powered transport refrigeration units in certain heavy-duty vehicles (e.g., commercial trucks).
Generating Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National Streets Act or the GREEN Streets Act This bill establishes national goals to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improve the resilience of the transportation system. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish minimum standards for states to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the National Highway System; DOT to establish measures for states to assess and reduce carbon dioxide; states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to consider projects and strategies that reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and decrease per capita VMT's; states and MPOs to publish an analysis of the impact on per capita VMTs and mobile source greenhouse gas emissions for each project that adds new lanes or otherwise increases traffic capacity and costs more than $25 million; states that are out of compliance with the per capita VMT standards or carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emission measures to dedicate federal highway funding to achieve compliance; and DOT to establish national transit access standards and performance measures for transit accessibility, transit stop distance, and transit mode share.
Conscience Protection Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for certain protections for health care providers that refuse to participate in abortions based on religious beliefs or other convictions. Health care providers include individual professionals, medical facilities, health insurance organizations, and social services providers that refer clients to health care services. The federal government and entities that receive federal funding for health-related activities, including state and local governments, may not discriminate against a health care provider that refuses to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortions. Currently, similar requirements apply to various related activities, including certain employment or personnel decisions (the Church Amendments), abortion services training (the Coats-Snowe Amendment), qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges, and annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies (the Weldon Amendment). The HHS Office for Civil Rights must investigate complaints of this kind of discrimination. Furthermore, HHS may terminate or reduce HHS funding for health-related activities if a person or entity fails to comply with nondiscrimination requirements. Additionally, the Department of Justice or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief. A plaintiff does not need to seek or exhaust administrative remedies before bringing the action. A plaintiff may also bring an action, including one for money damages, against a governmental entity. In many cases, principles of sovereign immunity shield states and some localities from these kinds of actions.
This bill requires the President to establish an interagency task force, the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group. The task force shall oversee the development and execution of a federal government strategy to monitor and address Chinese government efforts to censor or intimidate individuals and entities in the United States, including U.S. companies doing business in China, when such individuals and entities are exercising their free speech rights. The Department of State shall seek to enter into an agreement with a qualified independent research entity to report to Congress on Chinese government efforts to censor or intimidate U.S. individuals and entities in the United States, including attempts to censor or intimidate U.S. companies doing business in China.
