Advancing Conservation and Education Act This bill allows the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming to relinquish state land grant parcels wholly or primarily within eligible areas and select, in exchange, public land within the state. Eligible areas are areas within the outer boundaries of units or components of the National Park, National Wilderness Preservation, National Wildlife Refuge, or National Landscape Conservation Systems, areas identified by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as having wilderness characteristics, certain designated lands within the National Forest System or administered by the BLM, and sentinel landscapes designated by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, or Department of the Interior. Interior shall create a process for the relinquishment of such parcels. States may select in exchange, and Interior may convey, lands that are mineral in character. The overall value of the state land grant parcels and the public land to be conveyed shall be equal or made equal. The bill sets forth requirements regarding hazardous materials on land to be conveyed, water rights, grazing permits, road rights-of-ways, and protection of Indian rights.
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Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act This bill imposes various restrictions related to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including by prohibiting certain imports from Xinjiang and imposing sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations there. Goods manufactured or produced in Xinjiang shall not be entitled to entry into the United States unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection (1) determines that the goods were not manufactured by convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions; and (2) reports such a determination to Congress and to the public. The President shall periodically report to Congress a list of foreign entities and individuals knowingly facilitating (1) the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang; and (2) efforts to contravene U.S. laws regarding the importation of forced labor goods from Xinjiang. The President shall impose property-blocking sanctions on the listed individuals and entities and impose visa-blocking sanctions on the listed individuals. Securities issuers required to file annual or quarterly reports with the Securities Exchange Commission shall disclose in such reports instances in which the issuer knowingly engaged in certain activities related to Xinjiang, such as working with an entity building detention facilities or surveillance systems there. After such a disclosure, the President shall determine whether to investigate if sanctions or criminal charges are warranted. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force and the Department of State shall report to Congress strategies to address forced labor in Xinjiang or any other part of China. The State Department shall also report to Congress a determination of whether the treatment of Muslim groups in Xinjiang constitutes crimes against humanity or genocide under U.S. law.
This act directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Stevens was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya at the time, Smith was an officer in the Foreign Service, and Doherty and Woods were both government contractors and former Navy SEALs.) After the medal has been awarded, it shall be given to the Central Intelligence Agency Museum.
Maddy summaryHRES 1525 is a non-binding House resolution condemning antisemitism spread by public figures, celebrities, and officials on social media. It cites the Anti-Defamation League’s report of 2,717 antisemitic incidents in 2021 (a 34% increase from 2020) and urges influential people to use their platforms to speak out against antisemitism. The resolution calls for unity with Jewish communities and emphasizes the need for Holocaust education to combat rising hate. As a symbolic measure, it does not create new laws or penalties but formally expresses the House’s stance against antisemitic rhetoric.
This bill requires the Western Area Power Administration to provide customers with a credit that reflects decreased hydropower output from specified projects until December 31, 2026.
Federal Land Freedom Act This bill sets forth a process that allows a state (including the District of Columbia) to seek to transfer the responsibility of energy development on federal land within its boundaries from the federal government to the state. Federal land does not include land that, as of May 31, 2013, is (1) held for the benefit of an Indian tribe, (2) in the National Park System, (3) in the National Wildlife Refuge System, or (4) in a congressionally designated wilderness area. To qualify for such a transfer of responsibility, a state must have a program that regulates the exploration and development of oil, natural gas, and other forms of energy on its land. The federal responsibility transfers to the state once the state submits to the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy a declaration that it has such a program and that it seeks to transfer the responsibility. Any action taken by a state to lease, permit, or regulate the exploration and development of energy on federal land in lieu of the federal government is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, or the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act or the SHRED Act This bill establishes the Ski Area Fee Retention Account. A specified portion of rental charges for ski area permits on a Forest Service unit shall be deposited in such account. Amounts in the fund shall be available to the unit for expenditure without further appropriation for ski area administration, improvements, visitor services, and wildfire preparedness. Funds may be reallocated only if the amounts collected exceed the reasonable needs of the unit.
Stop Adversarial Funding Expenditures for Laboratories Act or the SAFE Laboratories Act This bill prohibits federal assistance to the Wuhan Institute of Virology or any other laboratory located in a country determined to be a foreign adversary, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
Bonneville Shoreline Trail Advancement Act This bill modifies the wilderness designations of certain lands in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah. The bill designates approximately 326.27 acres in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest as part of the Mount Olympus Wilderness. The bill also removes the following lands in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest from designation as wilderness: approximately 11.17 acres in the Mount Naomi Wilderness, approximately 197.4 acres in the Mount Olympus Wilderness, approximately 9.8 acres in the Twin Peaks Wilderness, and approximately 107.9 acres in the Lone Peak Wilderness Area. The lands removed from designation as wilderness shall be managed as part of the forest.
This resolution condemns Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the international covenants on human rights. Further, it calls on Iran to immediately release all imprisoned or detained Baha'is, and it urges the President and the Department of State to impose sanctions on Iranian officials and others who are responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against Iran's Baha'i community.