Rep. Ron Estes

Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act This bill creates new federal crimes related to transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion. Specifically, the bill makes it a crime to knowingly transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion without satisfying the requirements of a parental involvement law in the minor's resident state. A parental involvement law requires parental consent or notification, or judicial authorization, for a minor to obtain an abortion. The bill prohibits an individual who has committed incest with a minor from knowingly transporting the minor across a state line to receive an abortion. Finally, the bill makes it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform or induce an abortion on an out-of-state minor without first notifying the minor's parent.

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.

National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture from restricting certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) activities pertaining to border enforcement and addresses related issues. Specifically, neither department may impose restrictions on CBP actions taking place on federal land under their respective jurisdictions and located within 100 miles of an international border if the CBP actions involve search and rescue operations and the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States. CBP shall have immediate access to such federal lands to conduct various activities, including the installation and maintenance of roads, barriers, and surveillance equipment. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may waive the application of certain legal requirements on such federal lands if DHS determines that the waiver is necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of border barriers and roads. DHS may waive only specified laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the National Historic Preservation Act, and certain provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

This bill places certain restrictions on employer-based vaccination requirements. Specifically, the bill prohibits the Department of Labor from issuing an emergency temporary occupational safety or health standard that requires employers to ensure their employees receive a vaccine. In addition, the bill expressly applies the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to occupational health and safety rules issued by Labor. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means.

Blocking Joseph Robinette Biden's Overreaching Vaccine Mandates Act This bill restricts implementation and enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services may not require, as a condition of participation in the programs, that providers mandate COVID-19 vaccination for their employees, or otherwise penalize participating providers that do not mandate such vaccination. The bill also prohibits the use of federal funds to implement or enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to take certain actions promoting the normalization of relations between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. Specifically, the State Department must develop a strategy on expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords (the term used to refer collectively to agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain marking the public normalization of relations between the two Arab countries and Israel). The strategy must include a description of how the U.S. government will encourage further normalization of relations with Israel. In addition, the State Department must report on options for U.S. international efforts to promote the strengthening of ties between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. The State Department must also report on the status of the normalization of relations with Israel, including information on (1) laws that punish individuals for people-to-people relations with Israelis (i.e., anti-normalization laws), and (2) evidence of steps taken by Arab governments toward permitting or encouraging normalized relations between their citizens or residents and Israeli citizens.

This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report to Congress on projections of the estimated tax gap (i.e., the difference between tax liabilities owed to the IRS and those liabilities that the IRS actually collects). The IRS may use artificial intelligence and related data analysis tools to calculate a tax gap projection. The bill also requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to issue periodic reports to the congressional tax committees on the tax gap projection. The bill restricts IRS funding to FY2021 levels for audits and enforcement until it publishes an updated tax gap projection. Funding is also restricted for certain purposes, including (1) targeting U.S. citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights, (2) targeting a group for regulatory scrutiny based on its ideological beliefs, and (3) auditing individual taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $400,000. The bill directs the IRS to establish a fellowship program to recruit private sector tax experts to join the IRS to create and participate in the audit task force. The purposes of the tax force include performing audit case selection, educating IRS employees on emerging issues, auditing selected taxpayers, addressing offshore tax evasion, and identifying, mentoring, and training IRS junior employees with respect to audits.

Advancing America's Interests Act This bill limits the ability of certain persons (e.g., patent or trademark holders) to bring complaints before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and it requires the ITC to consider the public interest when determining whether to exclude articles that are under investigation. A complainant before the ITC must satisfy a domestic industry requirement obliging them to have made significant investment in the United States related to the articles that are the subject of the matter. One method to establish domestic industry is through reliance on licensing activities. The bill requires a complainant attempting to demonstrate domestic industry through licensing activities to show that those activities led to the adoption and development of articles that incorporate the patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design at issue. Further, the bill prohibits a complainant from relying upon activities by a licensee to demonstrate domestic industry unless the license leads to the adoption and development of articles that incorporate the claimed patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design for sale in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the ITC to determine that any exclusion of articles pursuant to an investigation is in the public interest. The ITC must also identify at the beginning of an investigation whether the matter involves a dispositive issue that is appropriate for expedited initial determination and direct the assigned judge to issue such determination not later than 100 days after the investigation is instituted.

Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Harlem Hellfighters, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service during World War I.

Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act or the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act This bill implements a program and a policy related to service dog therapy for veterans. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a five-year pilot program to provide canine training to eligible veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as an element of a complementary and integrative health program. Eligible veterans are those who are enrolled in the VA health care system and have been recommended for participation by a qualified mental health care provider or clinical team. The VA must seek to enter agreements containing specified elements with accredited nongovernmental entities that have demonstrated ability to provide canine training. Veterans who participate in the program are authorized to adopt the dog they assisted in training if their health provider determines it is in the best interest of the veteran. The VA must establish processes to document and track the progress of participating veterans with respect to health benefits and improvements. The Government Accountability Office must brief Congress and submit a report on the program. The bill also authorizes the VA to provide service dogs to veterans with mental illnesses, regardless of whether they have a mobility impairment.