Rep. Michael T. McCaul

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022 This bill provides funding for the conservation or restoration of wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need, including endangered or threatened species, and establishes related requirements. TITLE I--WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION (Sec. 101) This title establishes and funds a subaccount of the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account, which was established under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. The subaccount must be used to support efforts of states, territories, or the District of Columbia to recover and manage wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need. The Department of the Interior must use a portion of the funding from the subaccount for grants to state fish and wildlife departments, the District of Columbia fish and wildlife department, fish and wildlife departments of territories, nonprofit organizations, or regional associations of fish and wildlife departments. The grants must be used for innovative recovery efforts for species of greatest conservation need, species listed as endangered or threatened species, or the habitats of such species. Funding for the subaccount must supplement existing funds available to the states from funds distributed under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act and the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account. Recipients of the funding from the subaccount must match federal funds as specified by the title. The Government Accountability Office must study and report on the progress of states, territories, the District of Columbia, and Indian tribes in protecting species of greatest conservation need, endangered species, and threatened species. TITLE II--TRIBAL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION (Sec. 201) This title establishes and funds a Tribal Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account to support Indian tribes' efforts to recover and manage wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need. Indian tribes are not required to provide matching funds. TITLE III--ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY AND HABITAT CONSERVATION LEGACY FUND (Sec. 301) This title establishes and funds through FY2026 the Endangered Species Recovery and Habitat Conservation Legacy Fund. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must use the fund to (1) implement an Endangered Species Recovery Grant Program; (2) address its interagency consultation responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act of 1973; (3) work with nonfederal entities to conserve wildlife habitat and at-risk species, threatened or endangered species, or species proposed to be listed as threatened or endangered species; or (4) address the development and permitting of voluntary conservation agreements under such act. Amounts made available under the fund must supplement other federal amounts made available to carry out such activities. The President must annually submit to Congress, together with the annual budget of the United States, a list of threatened species and endangered species for which recovery plans will be developed or implemented with amounts from the Endangered Species Recovery and Habitat Conservation Legacy Fund. TITLE IV--REPORT (Sec. 401) Interior must also report on information concerning the amount of grants and contracts that were awarded or are allocated under this bill to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving educational institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, minority-serving educational institutions, minority-owned business enterprises, women-owned business enterprises, and community-based organizations that are principally administered by, operated by, or serving minority communities.

Fallen Heroes Flag Reauthorization Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 a program through which a Member of Congress may provide, at no cost, a Capitol-flown flag to commemorate a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or other public safety officer who died in the line of duty if an immediate family member of the deceased requests such a flag.

Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act This bill requires the President to report to Congress on atrocities committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Specifically, the report must describe in detail (1) U.S. government efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the invasion; (2) media, public diplomacy, and information operations to make the Russian people, including their military and political leaders, aware of efforts to identify and prosecute those responsible for such atrocities; and (3) the process for a domestic, foreign, or international court or tribunal to obtain information from the U.S. government related to such atrocities.

Maddy summaryHRES 1166 is a symbolic House resolution condemning the May 24, 2022, mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and 2 teachers. It honors the victims, expresses support for the injured and affected families, and thanks first responders, without enacting new policies or requiring government action. The resolution was introduced by Texas representatives and passed unanimously by the House on June 9, 2022, as a formal expression of solidarity with the Uvalde community. As a procedural resolution, it has no legal effect but serves to publicly acknowledge the tragedy.

Stop Iranian Drones Act This bill expands existing provisions requiring sanctions against individuals or entities that provide certain types of weapons to Iran. Specifically, the bill modifies the provisions by adding unmanned combat aerial vehicles to the list of weapons covered by the sanctions. The bill also requires the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on the identities of any Iranian entity that has attacked a U.S. citizen using an unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The President must designate any such entity as a foreign terrorist organization.

Freight Rail Assistance and Investment to Launch Coronavirus-Era Activity and Recovery Act of 2022 or the Freight RAILCAR Act of 2022 This bill provides a new tax credit through 2024 for 10% of freight railcar fleet modernization expenses (i.e., railcar replacement and modernization expenses for meeting fuel efficiency and performance standards). The bill provides that no more than 2,000 freight railcars per taxpayer may be taken into account for purposes of determining the credit in a taxable year. The Department of the Treasury must report to Congress on the credit to provide information on the number of times the credit was claimed and the number of railcars scrapped or built as a result of the credit.

This bill expands the expedited environmental review and permitting process under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, commonly known as FAST-41, to include certain computer-related infrastructure projects. Specifically, the bill provides for the expedited review of infrastructure projects concerning semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage and data management, or cybersecurity.

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 This bill modifies and reauthorizes through FY2026 programs and activities under the Violence Against Women Act that seek to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The bill also authorizes new programs, makes changes to federal firearms laws, and establishes new protections to promote housing stability and economic security for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

This concurrent resolution declares that a state of emergency exists due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It also states that such emergency justifies a waiver of the minimum tonnage requirements for the transport of equipment, materials, or commodities related to humanitarian operations resulting from the invasion. Such requirements apply to cargoes that are transported on ocean vessels and that are procured, furnished, or financed by the United States.

Multilateral Aid Review Act of 2022 This bill establishes a U.S. Multilateral Aid Review to assess U.S. government investments in multilateral entities. The President must establish a U.S. Multilateral Aid Review Task Force, which must periodically report to Congress the review's findings. The task force must establish and report the methodology for the reviews, which must include assessments of (1) the relationship between such multilateral entities' stated goals and actual results, (2) the management practices and transparency of the entities, (3) the alignment between an entity's policies and practices with U.S. foreign policy objectives, and (4) whether U.S. goals may be better served by pursing a bilateral approach. The bill establishes a U.S. Multilateral Aid Review Peer Review Group, which must review the reports and provide feedback to the task force and to Congress.