Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act This bill makes previously unused immigrant visas available to nurses and physicians who petition for such a visa before the date that is 90 days after the end of the declared national emergency relating to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak. The number of visas available shall be the total number of unused employment-based immigrant visas from FY1992-FY2020, up to 40,000. Of such visas, 25,000 shall be reserved for nurses and 15,000 for physicians. Certain family members may accompany the principal beneficiary of a visa provided under this bill, and visas for such family members shall (1) be made available from the unused visas from FY1992-FY2020, and (2) not be counted against the 40,000 cap. Visas provided under this bill shall be exempt from per-country limitations.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Sponsored bills
COVID-19 Border Protection (CBP) Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to devise and implement a strategy to ensure that no alien with COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) in DHS or Department of Health and Human Services custody may be released into the community during a public health emergency related to COVID-19. Funds previously provided to the Department of State for supporting international efforts to help migrants and refugees respond to COVID-19 shall be transferred to DHS to implement this strategy.
Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements related to U.S. international energy strategy. Applications to export natural gas to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, Japan, and certain other countries shall be granted on an expedited basis without modification or delay. The President shall impose sanctions on a person that provides certain equipment, investment, or services to the Russian government or related entities for constructing or servicing Russian energy export pipelines. The Department of State shall report to Congress on a strategy to enhance the energy security of NATO member countries and increase exports of U.S. energy (and related technologies and services) to such countries.
Forbidding Repressive Executive Efforts and Denouncing Overreaching Mandates Act or the FREEDOM Act This bill requires each executive agency to report on the effects of requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and certify whether such a requirement will adversely affect the ability of the agency to carry out its mission. Specifically, such report shall include the estimated number of employees who do not intend to get vaccinated and would leave as a result, the effects on such agency's workforce and on its ability to carry out its mission, any agency plans to mitigate the loss of institutional knowledge, and estimates of how long the agency will take to fill the positions left vacant and the costs of filling such positions.
Natural Immunity Is Real Act This bill requires all federal agencies to acknowledge and consider natural immunity to COVID-19 when promulgating any regulation related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
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.
Revising and Expediting Actions for the Crisis Hotline for Veterans Act or the REACH for Veterans Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to update training and procedures for call responders of the Veterans Crisis Line. Specifically, the VA must enter into an agreement with an outside organization to review the training for crisis line call responders. The VA must update the training if any deficiencies are identified after the review. Among other requirements, the VA must develop guidelines on retraining and quality management for when a call responder has an adverse event or needs improvement, annually perform a common cause analysis for identified callers to the crisis line who died by suicide in situations where the crisis line was the last point of contact, develop enhanced guidance and procedures to respond to calls to the crisis line related to substance use and overdose risk, review the current emergency dispatch standard operating procedure of the crisis line, and solicit feedback from veterans service organizations on how to conduct outreach regarding the move to 988 as the new suicide and mental health crisis hotline. Each call responder must be subject to at least two calls per month that are silently monitored by a supervisor to check for quality of conduct. The Veterans Crisis Line, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention of the VA, and National Center for Patient Safety of the VA must establish quality management processes and expectations for staff of the crisis line.
Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options for Veterans Act This bill addresses the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provision of mammograms and breast cancer treatment. Among other requirements, the VA must submit a strategic plan for improving breast imaging services for veterans, implement a three-year pilot program to provide telemammography services for veterans who live in locations where access to breast imaging services at a VA facility is difficult or unfeasible, upgrade all mammography services at its facilities to use three-dimensional breast imaging, update guidelines to increase the use of testing for the breast cancer gene and genetic counseling for veterans diagnosed with breast cancer, and update its policies and directives to ensure that it confirms the accessibility of a breast imaging site when referring a veteran with a spinal cord injury or disorder to a non-VA provider. In addition, the VA must enter into a partnership with at least one cancer center of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health in each Veterans Integrated Service Network to expand access to high-quality cancer care for women veterans. In implementing such partnerships, the VA must ensure that veterans with breast cancer who reside in rural areas or states without a partner cancer center are able to receive care through telehealth. Finally, the VA must collaborate with the Department of Defense and report on all current research and health care collaborations between the departments on treating veterans and members of the Armed Forces with breast cancer.
Protecting Americans' Genomic Information Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address national security concerns when conducting or supporting biomedical research that involves human genomic sequencing and sensitive, identifiable information. Specifically, HHS must implement a risk framework to assess whether such research conducted by the National Institutes of Health or other HHS agencies and offices poses risks to national security and identify approaches to mitigate those risks, including through security controls and training for those that manage or have access to such research. After the framework is developed, HHS must implement data access controls, ensure that data access committees include members with national security expertise, and update relevant data access and sharing policies. The bill also requires HHS to brief Congress about these activities.
Primary and Virtual Care Affordability Act This bill extends until December 31, 2023, the exemption for telehealth services from certain high deductible health plan rules. It also provides a high deductible health plan safe harbor for the absence of a deductible for certain primary care services provided in any plan year beginning on or before December 31, 2023 (COVID-19 emergency period). The Government Accountability Office must complete a study, and report on, the effects of the safe harbor for certain primary care services provided during the COVID-19 emergency period.