Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez

Public Housing Emergency Response Act This bill authorizes additional assistance from the Public Housing Capital Fund to public housing agencies (PHAs) based upon capital needs as determined by the PHA's most recent physical needs assessment. The physical needs assessment identifies work that a PHA would need to undertake to bring its units up to certain energy conservation standards and other standards.

Maddy summaryHR 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, would admit Washington, D.C. as the 51st state, named "Washington, Douglass Commonwealth," granting its residents full representation in Congress with two Senators and one Representative. The bill establishes procedures for admission, including elections for state officials, with the state initially having one Representative until the next congressional apportionment. It would create a "Capital" area (including the White House, Capitol, and other key federal buildings) that remains under federal jurisdiction as the seat of the U.S. government, while the rest of the District becomes the new state. The bill also includes provisions to ensure continuity of federal services, property management, and legal procedures during the transition to statehood.

Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The commission must (1) compile documentary evidence of slavery in the United States; (2) study the role of the federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery; (3) analyze discriminatory laws and policies against freed African slaves and their descendants; and (4) recommend ways the United States may recognize and remedy the effects of slavery and discrimination on African Americans, including through a formal apology and compensation (i.e., reparations). The commission consists of individuals from civil society and reparations organizations and individuals appointed by the President and congressional leadership; Members of Congress and governmental employees may not serve on the commission. The commission may hold hearings, subpoena witnesses and records, and contract with other entities to conduct its work. The commission must submit its final report within 18 months of its first meeting.

Insular Area Climate Change Act This bill provides support through programs and financial assistance for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation, and resilience in U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the Freely Associated States (Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau). For example, the bill requires the Technical Assistance Program of the Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs to provide technical assistance for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation, and resilience to the territories and Freely Associated States. It also establishes an Insular Area National Program Office within the Environmental Protection Agency to build and strengthen infrastructure to withstand natural disasters, expand renewable energy and energy efficiency, and provide technical assistance in the territories and Freely Associated States. Additionally, the bill establishes several grant programs to assess and reduce the impacts of climate change, expand renewable energy and energy efficiency, or expand sustainable infrastructure to withstand natural disasters in the territories and Freely Associated States.

Environmental Justice For All Act This bill establishes several environmental justice requirements, advisory bodies, and programs and modifies the scope of environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The bill sets forth provisions to address the disproportionate adverse human health or environmental effects of federal laws or programs on communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and indigenous communities. It also prohibits disparate impacts on the basis of race, color, or national origin as discrimination. Aggrieved persons may seek legal remedy when faced with such discrimination. In addition, the bill directs agencies to follow certain requirements concerning environmental justice. For example, agencies must prepare community impact reports that assess the potential impacts of their actions on environmental justice communities under certain circumstances. It also raises coal, oil, and gas royalty rates to create a funding source to support fossil fuel-dependent communities and displaced workers as they transition away from fossil fuel industries. Additionally, the bill creates a variety of advisory bodies and positions, such as the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. Among other things, the council must issue an environmental justice strategy. It also establishes requirements and programs concerning chemicals or toxic ingredients in certain products. For example, the bill (1) requires certain products (e.g., cosmetics) to include a list of ingredients or warnings; and (2) provides grants for research on designing safer alternatives to chemicals in certain consumer, cleaning, toy, or baby products that have an inherent toxicity or that are associated with chronic adverse health effects. Finally, it creates a variety of funding programs, such as a grant program to enhance access to park and recreational opportunities in urban areas.

This act designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 15 Chestnut Street in Suffern, New York, as the Sergeant Gerald T. "Jerry" Donnellan Post Office.

21st Century President Act This act revises the definition of immediate family for purposes of a criminal offense involving a threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a former President or a member of the immediate family of a former President. Specifically, it replaces gender-specific references to a former President's wife and widow with the gender-neutral terms spouse and surviving spouse .

This resolution affirms that there is well-established authority for the Food and Drug Administration to approve, license, and otherwise regulate reproductive health products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act. The resolution also affirms that (1) such federal laws preempt (i.e., supersede conflicting state or local laws) any state or local laws that prohibit or limit access to or use of any reproductive health product, and (2) the Department of Justice has authority to enforce the preemptive effect of such federal laws by suing any state or political subdivision of a state that prohibits or limits access to or use of any reproductive health product.

Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE Act This bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language, including by establishing incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials. Additionally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and (2) expanding the definition of language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.

Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act This act authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to conduct on-site fire safety investigations of major fires and other fires under other specified circumstances. In the case of a major fire, the USFA may send incident investigators (e.g., safety specialists, fire protection engineers, codes and standards experts, researchers, and fire training specialists) to the site. Any such investigation shall (1) be conducted in coordination and cooperation with appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities; and (2) examine the previously determined cause and origin of the fire and assess broader systematic matters. Upon concluding any such investigation, the USFA must issue a public report to federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities on the findings of such investigation or collaborate with another investigating federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial agency on that agency's report. The act makes an exception where issuing a report would have a negative impact on a potential or ongoing criminal investigation. Additionally, the USFA may send fire investigators to conduct fire safety investigations at the site of any fire with unusual or remarkable context that results in losses less severe than those occurring as a result of a major fire, in coordination and cooperation with the appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities.