This House resolution commemorates the fifth anniversary of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and honors veterans who served during the Gulf War era. It recognizes the approximately 8.4 million living veterans from this period, which includes service in operations such as Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Inherent Resolve. The bill also acknowledges the sacrifices of armed forces members and allies, including those killed during the Afghanistan evacuation.
This resolution formally honors the life and public service of late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who represented Texas's 18th congressional district for nearly three decades. The text highlights her early career in law and local government, as well as her significant contributions to federal disaster relief and the establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday. By passing this measure, the House of Representatives acknowledges her legacy as an advocate for justice and equality without enacting any new laws or policy changes.
The Self-Improving AI Monitoring Act amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to require NIST to assess trends in AI capabilities, specifically focusing on systems that can autonomously conduct research or develop other AI. The bill mandates that before entering into pre-deployment evaluation agreements with developers of frontier AI systems, NIST must ensure these agreements include specific disclosure requirements. Developers would be required to provide information on the extent to which AI was used to build the new system, including metrics and estimates of how much development occurred without human review. Additionally, any such evaluations must explicitly test the system's ability to autonomously facilitate or conduct AI research and development.
The Freedom to Home Distill Act would allow individuals to legally produce small amounts of alcohol at home for personal use without paying federal excise taxes or facing criminal penalties. To qualify, a household could distill up to 10 proof gallons per year if it has one adult, or 20 proof gallons if it has two or more adults, provided the spirits are never sold or transferred to others. The bill exempts home distillers from standard business requirements such as registering their equipment and paying taxes, but it mandates that any stills purchased for this purpose must have specific safety features like pressure release valves and a capacity of no more than 50 gallons. These changes would take effect for spirits produced after December 31, 2026.
The GRANITE Act prohibits U.S. courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign judgments, fines, or orders that enforce laws restricting speech based on content, viewpoint, or speaker identity. It defines a "foreign censorship law" as any foreign statute that would conflict with First Amendment protections if applied in the United States. The bill grants individuals targeted by such foreign actions the right to sue in federal district court for a declaration that the judgment is unenforceable. Additionally, it removes sovereign immunity for foreign states when they are sued under these new provisions.
The BEDROCK Act directs the Secretary of Commerce to designate a senior official who will lead federal efforts to boost the competitiveness and supply-chain resilience of the U.S. biomanufacturing industry. This official is tasked with identifying barriers to private sector investment, mapping complex regulatory pathways across agencies like the FDA and EPA, and publishing a prioritized action plan to address vulnerabilities in critical inputs such as enzymes and cell lines. The bill also requires the government to create a public web resource that consolidates federal information and designates specific agency points of contact to help businesses navigate commercialization processes. These requirements are set to terminate five years after the law is enacted, with periodic reports submitted to Congress to track progress.
The No PRC Seafood in Congress Act prohibits the procurement, sale, and service of seafood products from China in all dining facilities located within the U.S. Capitol Buildings or on the Capitol Grounds. This ban applies to any seafood fished, harvested, raised, produced, or processed in China, as well as seafood caught by vessels owned, operated, or registered under Chinese law. To enforce this rule, congressional administrative bodies must issue regulations within 180 days that require food suppliers to certify the specific countries involved in each product's supply chain and maintain records to verify these claims.
The STORMWATER Act extends the funding period for stormwater control infrastructure technology centers from fiscal years 2022-2026 to 2027-2031. It mandates that exactly five of these centers be established, rather than a range of three to five as previously allowed. Additionally, the bill requires that one of the designated centers be located in and focused on the Great Lakes region.
The Stop Predator Dumping Act requires states with civil commitment laws for sexually violent predators to adopt specific rules for placing individuals upon their conditional release. These rules mandate that no two released individuals live within 10 miles of each other and prohibit placing a new individual in a county area that already has fewer such residents than another area in the same county. Additionally, the bill caps the number of placements in any single district of large counties at 25 percent of the total for that county. The Attorney General is directed to conduct a study on current placement patterns and distribute best practices for equitable distribution, with federal grants available to help states implement these new guidelines.
The Foreign Propaganda Disclosure Act amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act to explicitly include social media influencers in its regulatory scope. The bill defines a social media influencer as any individual who maintains a monetized account on a social media platform, using an existing definition from the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022. By making this addition, the legislation requires these specific digital content creators to comply with the same registration and disclosure obligations currently applied to other foreign agents.
The NSF REU Act of 2026 reauthorizes and expands the National Science Foundation's program that funds summer and academic-year research experiences for undergraduate students in STEM fields. The bill requires that at least half of the participants at each funded site be recruited from institutions with limited research opportunities, such as community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and rural schools. It authorizes $100 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2032 to support these grants, which must cover student stipends, travel, housing, and mentor training. Additionally, the legislation mandates that the NSF track student outcomes for at least three years after their degree and submit a report to Congress on program effectiveness and recruitment strategies.
The MANNARINO Act requires states to ban the sale of scented or flavored nitrous oxide products and other non-exempt nitrous oxide items in order to receive certain federal public health grants. The law allows exemptions for nitrous oxide used in medical, veterinary, dental, food manufacturing, industrial, or automotive applications. If a state fails to implement these sales prohibitions, the Secretary of Health and Human Services can reduce its federal grant allotment by up to 10 percent. These requirements would take effect starting in the third fiscal year after the bill is enacted.
