Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Migratory Bird Protection Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the incidental taking (e.g., capturing or killing) of migratory birds by commercial activities unless the activity is authorized under a permit or is identified as posing de minimis risk to migratory birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must regulate such incidental taking, including by (1) issuing general permits for certain industries, (2) creating a mitigation fee for any incidental taking of migratory birds, and (3) identifying categories of de minimis risk activities that are exempt from liability for the taking of migratory birds. In addition, the USFWS must establish and maintain a research program (1) to evaluate the impacts of commercial activities on birds, (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of best management practices and technologies to avoid or minimize such impacts, and (3) to develop new or improved best management practices and technologies.

This resolution supports (1) fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and (2) investments in the vaccine supply chain and other efforts to meet global needs for vaccines.

This resolution urges the United States to protect the human rights of unhoused individuals, to establish regulations and enforcement tools to protect unhoused individuals from violations of civil and human rights, and to establish blanket legal protections for third parties providing goods or services to unhoused individuals. The resolution also urges the United States to establish a process to award appropriate damages, attorney's fees, and costs to a prevailing plaintiff in an action alleging a violation of the human and civil rights of unhoused individuals. Relatedly, the resolution urges the United States to allow the court in such an action to consider housing status and apply leniency in compiling records, receipts, and documentation from those plaintiffs. The resolution also expresses the intention of the House of Representatives to address the unhoused crisis in the United States by providing funding and imposing requirements on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Creative Economy Revitalization Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to award grants to government and nonprofit agencies to provide programs that employ individuals and provide public access to art or arts programming.

Fiscal Analysis by Income and Race Scoring Act or the FAIR Scoring Act This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) cost estimates for legislation to include a distributional analysis by race and income if the legislation will have a gross budgetary effect of at least 0.1% of gross domestic product in any fiscal year during the 10-year budget window. CBO's analysis must show the transfers that would result by race and income level, and the effects must be shown both in dollars and as a percent change in after-tax-and-transfer-income. The bill also requires CBO to report to Congress on methods for conducting such a distributional analysis by gender.

Shift Back to Society Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Education to establish a pilot program that awards matching grants to historically Black colleges and universities to provide educational programs for eligible offenders to facilitate reentry into the community. An eligible offender is a convicted criminal offender who has been released from incarceration for not longer than one year or who is scheduled to be released from incarceration within one year. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on the results of the pilot program.

Refuge System Protection Act This bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ), at the request of the Department of the Interior, to bring in a district court a civil action against any individual or entity that destroys, causes the loss of, causes Interior to make risk mitigation efforts with respect to, or injures any resource that is within the boundaries any land or water that is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bill also authorizes DOJ, at the request of Interior, to bring in a district court an in rem action against any instrumentality (e.g., a vessel, vehicle, or aircraft) that destroys, causes the loss of, causes Interior to make risk mitigation efforts with respect to, or injures any such system resource. Among others, it shall be an affirmative defense in either type of action that the destruction of, loss of, risk mitigation regarding, or injury to a system resource was caused by an otherwise legal act or omission that occurred outside the boundaries of the resource. In either type of action, the court may award response costs and damages.

Cultivating Organic Matter through the Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques Act or the COMPOST Act This bill makes composting a conservation practice for purposes of Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs. The bill also requires USDA to establish a competitive program to award grants and loan guarantees for projects that expand access to food waste composting.

Farm System Reform Act of 2021 This bill places a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations; requires country-of-origin labeling for beef, pork, and dairy products; and otherwise revises provisions related to the marketing of livestock, poultry, and meat.

This resolution establishes a House Permanent Select Committee on Aging.