Rep. Katie Porter

Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 20 21 This bill modifies, expands, and reauthorizes through FY2026 the Family Violence and Prevention Services program, which funds emergency shelters and supports related assistance for victims of domestic violence. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants and enter cooperative agreements with state and tribal domestic violence coalitions, and community-based organizations, to support prevention services. Depending on the type of organization, grant recipients must use funding to (1) provide technical assistance; (2) promote evidence-informed prevention strategies; (3) implement coordinated, community responses to reduce risk factors for family violence; and (4) develop prevention partnership strategies. Further, HHS must award specified grants to organizations that provide population-specific services in underserved communities and to community-based organizations that provide culturally specific domestic violence services to racial and ethnic minority groups. The bill also establishes a grants program for tribal domestic violence coalitions to support the provision of local, tribal, family domestic or dating violence services and requires HHS to award a grant for the administration of a hotline dedicated to serving Indians affected by domestic violence. In addition, the bill modifies certain program-wide definitions; changes the requirements for specified grant applications, eligibility criteria, and use of funds; and makes other technical revisions.

Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 20 21 This bill provides minimum collective bargaining rights and procedures for public employees and prohibits strikes by certain public safety workers. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) shall determine for each state whether the laws of such state substantially provide for each of the minimum standard collective bargaining rights and procedures specified by this bill, including the right of public employees and supervisory employees to self-organize, form or join a labor organization, or collectively bargain. The FLRA must issue rules and take actions to establish and administer bargaining rights and procedures for those states that do not substantially provide for them. No employers, emergency services employees, or law enforcement officers may engage in a lockout, strike, or any other organized job action that is likely to result in a measurable disruption of the delivery of emergency or public safety services. Furthermore, no labor organization may be the cause of a violation of such prohibition.

Jerry Lewis VA Clinic Act This bill designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Redlands, California, as the Jerry Lewis Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic or the Jerry Lewis VA Clinic.

Higher Education Mental Health Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Education to establish an Advisory Commission on Serving and Supporting Students with Mental Health Disabilities in Institutions of Higher Education. The commission must conduct a study and report on services available to students with mental health disabilities in institutions of higher education (IHEs) and the effectiveness of such services in supporting these students; the impact of policies and procedures, such as reasonable accommodation and disciplinary policies, that help or hinder the goal of providing equal opportunity to these students; the use of protected health information of these students by IHEs; the impact of providing mental health services on a student's academic performance, well-being, and ability to complete college; conclusions on the major challenges facing these students; and recommendations to improve the overall education, retention, and graduation of these students.

Care for our Firefighters Act This bill establishes a program and provides additional leave to support mental health for federal wildland firefighters. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior must carry out a mental health awareness and support program for federal wildland firefighters. Components of the program must include an awareness campaign, relevant education and training, a peer-to-peer mental health support network, and increased access to mental health benefits. The bill also entitles each federal wildland firefighter to seven consecutive days of leave to be taken between June 1 and October 31 of each calendar year to maintain mental health. Leave not taken during that period expires.

Caring for Survivors Act of 2021 This bill increases the monthly rate of dependency and indemnity compensation payable to surviving spouses through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill also adjusts the amount payable to surviving spouses and children of veterans who were rated as totally disabled for a period of less than 10 years before their death.

This resolution calls for the creation of a Green New Deal with the goals of achieving greenhouse gas and toxic emissions reductions needed to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming; establishing millions of high-wage union jobs and ensuring economic security for all; investing in infrastructure and industry; securing clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment for all; and promoting justice and equality. The resolution calls for accomplishment of these goals through a 10-year national mobilization effort. The resolution also enumerates the goals and projects of the mobilization effort, including building smart power grids (i.e., power grids that enable customers to reduce their power use during peak demand periods); upgrading all existing buildings and constructing new buildings to achieve maximum energy and water efficiency; removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation and agricultural sectors; cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites; ensuring businesspersons are free from unfair competition; and providing higher education, high-quality health care, and affordable, safe, and adequate housing to all.

Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act of 2021 or the SAFEGUARD Act of 2021 This bill establishes specified measures to prevent the sale, export, or transfer of defense articles or defense services to foreign countries for use in violation of international humanitarian law or internationally recognized human rights. These measures include (1) prohibiting arms sales to countries committing genocide or war crimes, (2) requiring a consideration of human rights practices and democratization in any foreign country to which an arms sale is contemplated, and (3) providing for congressional oversight of arms exports to foreign countries wherein certain human rights violations have occurred.

EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes the EB-5 Regional Center program through FY2026 and makes various changes to the program, such as imposing various oversight requirements. (EB-5 visas provide permanent resident status to qualified alien investors. A regional center allows EB-5 aliens to pool investments to meet various investment and job creation requirements.) Oversight-related provisions include requiring each center to (1) notify the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of proposed changes to the center's structure, (2) maintain certain records and make such records available to DHS for audits, (3) obtain approval for each particular investment offering, and (4) annually report to DHS. The bill prohibits certain individuals and entities from involvement in a center, such as (1) a person who had committed a violation involving fraud in the previous 10 years, (2) a non-U.S. national not admitted for permanent residence, or (3) a foreign government official. DHS shall deny petitions, such as a petition to certify a regional center or to classify an alien as an alien investor, if approval would threaten U.S. national interest. The bill provides various enforcement authority to DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including the ability to permanently bar an individual from participating in the regional center program. The bill establishes the EB-5 Integrity Fund to fund program enforcement activities. The bill contains various provisions related to EB-5 petitions, such as a provision authorizing DHS to extend an alien's conditional permanent residence status.

Honduras Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Act of 2021 This bill temporarily imposes sanctions and other penalties on Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez and the government of Honduras for systemic corruption and human rights violations, with particular focus on the Honduran police and military. Specifically, the President must impose asset- and visa-blocking sanctions on Juan Orlando Hernandez due to his corrupt practices, including the use of the state apparatus to protect and facilitate drug trafficking. Additionally, the President must prohibit, within 30 days, the issuance of licenses to export defense articles and services and specified munitions to the Honduran police or military. The bill also (1) makes Honduras ineligible for security assistance to equip and train police and military, and (2) requires U.S. representatives at multilateral development banks to oppose any loans for Honduran police or military. Furthermore, the Department of the Treasury must instruct U.S. leadership of international financial institutions and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to promote human rights due diligence and risk management in any loan, grant, policy, or strategy related to Honduras. The sanctions and other penalties put in place under this bill terminate in five years but may be lifted earlier if specified conditions are met.