Rep. Ralph Norman

Stop Federal Vaccine Mandates for Employees Act This bill prohibits the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from issuing any emergency temporary standard that requires an employee to receive a drug, vaccine, or other biological product.

Answer COVID FOIAs Now Act This bill addresses pending Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to COVID-19. Specifically, the bill requires each federal agency, within 100 calendar days, to complete all pending FOIA requests related to a drug or medical device to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, or treat COVID-19; gain-of-function or potential pandemic pathogen research; or a policy, rule, or standard requiring COVID-19 vaccination of individuals. For each calendar day on which any applicable FOIA request remains pending, the Department of the Treasury must transfer $1 million from the appropriations account of the office of the head of the agency to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration. A person submitting such a request shall be deemed to have demonstrated a compelling need for expedited processing.

Spending Safeguard Act This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish spending limits for direct spending programs that (1) are enacted or reauthorized after the enactment of this bill, and (2) do not have a specific level of authorized spending expressed as a dollar amount. The spending limits must be equal to (1) 120% of the cost of the program for defense, health, Medicare, income security, Social Security, and veterans benefits and services programs; and (2) 110% of the cost for any other program. The OMB must maintain a publicly available scorecard that displays the spending level for any program that is subject to the limits. The OMB and the President must submit specified reports to Congress comparing current spending to the limits. The bill prohibits obligations for programs that have reached the applicable spending limit. Agencies implementing programs listed on the OMB's scorecard must ensure that any contract, offer of benefits, or other material provided to program participants specifies that the program is subject to a spending limit that may impact future availability of funds to pay benefits.

This bill posthumously provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of the 13 service members who died on August 26, 2021, while stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.

Saving Americans From Executive Reach in Travel Act or the SAFER Travel Act This bill prohibits executive branch agencies and private entities from imposing a vaccine mandate against COVID-19 on individuals traveling within the United States on commercial public or private transportation, including air, rail, commercial motor vehicles, vessels, or other public or private forms of transportation. Additionally, the bill prohibits executive branch agencies from requiring a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States to enter into a period of quarantine related to COVID-19 after having traveled on any commercial public or private transportation.

Maddy summaryHRES 855 is a symbolic resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to support designating the first week of December 2022 as "National United States Miners Week." It does not create new laws or policies but formally recognizes miners' contributions to the economy and supply chains. The resolution highlights miners' role in providing critical minerals and coal, supporting over 500,000 jobs, and securing domestic resources for everyday products. It directly affects miners and their communities by offering a formal, non-binding acknowledgment of their work. This is a procedural resolution with no concrete policy changes or funding implications.

This resolution recognizes the importance of Christmas symbols and traditions. The resolution (1) disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas, and (2) supports the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.

Preserving Rights Of Tenants by Ensuring Compliance To the Second Amendment Act or the PROTECT the Second Amendment Act This bill establishes a right for a resident of covered federally assisted rental housing to lawfully possess a firearm within the residential dwelling unit occupied by the resident and any common area of the federally assisted rental housing in which the resident resides in the course of entering or exiting the rental housing.

Border Agents Stay Employed Act or the BASE Act This bill prohibits using federal funds to require any U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer or employee to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Community Bank Relief Act of 2021 This bill requires banking agencies to set the community bank leverage ratio between 8% and 8.5% for calendar years 2022, 2023, and 2024 for community banks seeking to satisfy simplified capital adequacy requirements. Currently, banking agencies are statutorily required to set the rate between 8% and 10% through rulemaking. Under current regulations, the rate will increase from 8.5% to 9% on January 1, 2022.