Rep. Bob Good

Maddy summaryHRES 493 is a non-binding House resolution expressing disapproval of President Biden's immigration enforcement actions. It specifically criticizes the 100-day pause on deporting individuals with final removal orders and the preservation of the DACA program, alleging these actions violate the President’s constitutional duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." The resolution demands the removal of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calls for full enforcement of immigration laws, and asserts that the President has unlawfully usurped Congress’s legislative authority. It cites court rulings and a GAO opinion stating the President cannot substitute policy priorities for enacted laws. The resolution serves as a symbolic censure, not a policy change.

Ending Catch and Release Act of 2022 This bill changes the treatment of certain non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) without lawful immigration status, including by prohibiting the release of asylum seekers into the United States while their cases are pending. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may not (with some exceptions) release an individual who is not clearly entitled to admission into the United States while the individual's case is pending, even if the individual is an asylum seeker. DHS may instead detain the individual or return the individual to a neighboring country in certain situations. The bill also expands expedited removal from the United States (i.e., removal without further hearing or review) to include individuals present in the United States without being admitted, with certain exceptions. Under current law, individuals are subject to expedited removal if they lack proper documentation or obtained an immigration benefit through fraud; such individuals are still subject to expedited removal under the bill. The bill also modifies the standard for establishing a credible fear of persecution to avoid expedited removal. Generally, an asylum seeker may avoid expedited removal if an asylum officer finds such a credible fear. Under this bill, an officer may find credible fear if it is more likely than not the individual can establish their eligibility for asylum, whereas under current law, the officer may find credible fear if there is a significant possibility that the individual can establish their eligibility.

Protect Pregnancy Care Centers Act of 2022 This bill directs the Inspectors General of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress on domestic violent extremism against pregnancy centers. Such report shall include criteria for opening, managing, and closing investigations related to domestic violent extremism; information sharing relating to domestic violent extremism within and between the federal government, state, local, tribal, territorial, and foreign governments, specified congressional committees, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector; all incidents of domestic violent extremism against pregnancy centers from May 1, 2022, through the date of this bill's enactment; and a recommendation as to criteria to be utilized in establishing a potential program to make grants to pregnancy centers for purposes of enabling grantees to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to domestic violent extremism, and a report on current federal programs and federal funding streams available to pregnancy centers for such purposes.

Protect Children's Innocence Act This bill places restrictions on the provision of gender affirming care. Gender affirming care includes performing surgery, administering medication, or performing other procedures for the purpose of changing the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that differs from the individual's biological sex. Specifically, the bill makes it a felony to perform any gender affirming care on a minor and it permits a minor on whom such care is performed to bring a civil action against each individual who provided the care. Additionally, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for gender affirming care or for health insurance that covers such care. Such care may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. The bill also prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for gender affirming care. Further, plans that include coverage for such care are not eligible for federal subsidies. Finally, the bill prohibits institutions of higher education from offering instruction in gender affirming care. It also makes any non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) who performs gender affirming care on a minor deportable and inadmissible to the United States. The restrictions under this bill do not apply to the provision of care under certain circumstances such as when an individual does not have normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action.

Stop the Cartels Act This bill addresses various issues including matters relating to immigration, law enforcement cooperation with Mexico, and drug cartels. The bill bars federal financial assistance for state or local jurisdictions that (1) restrict compliance with immigration detainers issued by the Department of Homeland Security, or (2) have any law or policy that violates immigration laws. Furthermore, under this bill, the detention of alien minors must be governed by specified sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act and not any judicial decree or settlement. (A 1997 settlement agreement imposes requirements related to the treatment of such minors, including limits on how long they may be detained under certain conditions.) The bill also makes various changes to asylum applications, including by (1) increasing the burden that an asylum applicant must meet to establish a credible fear of persecution, and (2) establishing refugee application and processing centers in Central America. In addition, certain Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development assistance may not be made available to Mexico's government until the State Department certifies that Mexico has removed certain barriers to law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing between the United States and Mexico. The bill also establishes the foreign Special Transnational Criminal Organization designation and establishes penalties related to designated organizations, such as making it a crime to knowingly provide material support to such an organization. The State Department must designate specified organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, with the designation, and may designate other organizations that fit criteria established in this bill.

Shall Not Be Infringed Act This bill repeals the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law on June 25, 2022. The act makes various changes to federal firearms laws, including to expand background check requirements, broaden the scope of existing restrictions, and establish new criminal offenses. The act also reauthorizes, funds, and supports various programs, grants, and activities to promote access to behavioral and mental health services, enhance school safety and security initiatives, and address gun violence in communities.

Maddy summaryHR 8196, the "Protecting Mothers and Babies from Terrorism Act," designates the groups Jane’s Revenge and Ruth Sent Us as domestic terrorists under existing law (18 U.S.C. §2331), based on their claimed responsibility for vandalism and arson targeting pregnancy centers and related facilities in 2022. The bill does not create new protections for mothers or babies but formally classifies the conduct described in its findings as domestic terrorism. It directly affects the legal status of these groups under federal terrorism statutes. The bill’s sole action is this designation, using current definitions without introducing new policy changes.

Fourth Amendment Restoration Act This bill limits surveillance conducted for foreign intelligence purposes. Specifically, the bill repeals provisions authorizing without a court order various types of searches and surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, including electronic surveillance and access to business records. An officer of the U.S. government must obtain a warrant for certain search and surveillance activities against a U.S. citizen, including (1) conducting electronic surveillance, (2) conducting physical searches of property under a U.S. citizen's exclusive control, or (3) targeting a U.S. citizen to acquire foreign intelligence information. The bill provides for criminal penalties for a person who knowingly violates these requirements or otherwise obtains such information under color of law without statutory authorization. Information about a U.S. citizen acquired under Executive Order 12333 (relating to intelligence gathering) or during surveillance of a non-U.S. citizen shall not be used against the U.S. citizen in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding or investigation.

Protect Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2022 This bill makes a medical practitioner who performs a gender-transition procedure on an individual who is less than 18 years of age liable for any physical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harms from the procedure for 30 years after the individual turns 18. Additionally, if a state requires medical practitioners to perform gender-transition procedures, that state shall be ineligible for federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. Gender-transition procedures generally include certain surgeries or hormone therapies that change the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that is discordant with the individual's biological sex. They exclude, however, interventions to treat (1) individuals who either have ambiguous external biological sex characteristics or lack a normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action; (2) infections, injuries, diseases, or disorders caused by a gender-transition procedure; or (3) a physical disorder, injury, or illness that places an individual in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major bodily function.

Leaker Accountability Act of 2022 This bill establishes a new federal crime for the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by officers or employees of the Supreme Court. Specifically, the bill prohibits an officer or employee of the Supreme Court from knowingly publishing, divulging, disclosing, or making known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by law any confidential information coming to that officer or employee in the course of the employment or official duties of that officer or employee. A violation is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.