Rep. Liz Cheney

This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to report daily on the efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents from Afghanistan until the President certifies to Congress that all such individuals who sought evacuation have been evacuated. Until such certification is submitted, DOD may not use FY2021 funds for activity which would have the effect of reducing the total number of service members deployed to Afghanistan, except in specified circumstances.

This bill requires the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to conduct a full investigation into the withdrawal of the U.S. Armed Forces from Afghanistan. The investigation must analyze (1) the extent to which, and reasons why, U.S. Humvees, helicopters, artillery, and drones ended up in the Taliban's possession; (2) the extent to which Afghan forces in possession of U.S. equipment entered Iran with such equipment; and (3) the effectiveness of the evacuation of U.S. and allied personnel.

Tree Spiking Mitigation Act of 2021 This bill directs the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to coordinate to take necessary actions to ensure the detection, identification, and, as determined to be appropriate, mitigation of tree spiking devices located on federal lands. A tree spiking device includes spikes, nails, or other objects hammered, driven, fastened, or otherwise placed into or on any timber to impede logging. To carry out such activities, the Forest Service and the BLM shall prioritize areas in which (1) incidences of tree spiking devices have occurred, or (2) the Forest Service and the BLM suspect that there are tree spiking devices. No later than 90 days after the enactment of this bill, the Forest Service and the BLM shall, where appropriate, update safety guidelines and training protocols to include the awareness, detection, identification, and mitigation of tree spiking devices.

This bill prohibits from having the force and effect of law a provision of Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7619), titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad , that requires the Department of the Interior to recommend steps to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The President and each federal agency may not take specified actions with respect to that provision of Executive Order 14008, any successor executive order, or a program, campaign, or effort with similar goals, including the America the Beautiful campaign.

This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the President should seek the elimination of all subsidies benefiting the production or export of sugar by certain foreign countries.

Resilient Federal Forests Act This bill modifies and sets forth provisions regarding forest management activities on National Forest System, public, and tribal lands. The bill provides for, among other things the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior to conduct fireshed management projects in fireshed management areas, certain categorical exclusions for various purposes, the balancing of the short- and long-term effects of forest management activities while considering injunctive relief, USDA and Interior to establish their own discretionary arbitration pilot programs as an alternative dispute resolution process for forest management activities, increasing the maximum term for a stewardship end result contract to 20 years, demonstration projects to support the development and commercialization of biochar on Indian forest lands or rangelands and in nearby communities by providing reliable supplies of feedstock from federal lands, the decommissioning of certain Forest Service Roads within designated high fire-prone areas, repealing of the Eastside Screens requirements on National Forest System lands, making the Northwest Forest Plan Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines inapplicable to any National Forest System lands or public lands, development of a protection plan for giant sequoia trees on National Forest System lands and public lands, and permanent rights of access to the Oregon and California Railroad grant lands and the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands for private landowners issued reciprocal road rights-of-way.

Stop Causing Alarming Tree, Air, and Soil Trauma Resulting from Obstructive Progressives' and Hypocritical Environmentalists' Schemes Act or the Stop CATASTROPHES Act This bill categorically excludes certain forest management activities from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. The activities are those that are carried out by the Department of Agriculture on National Forest System Lands or the Department of the Interior on public lands where the primary purpose is to improve or restore such lands or reduce the risk of wildfire on such lands. To be excluded, the area of the forest management activity may not exceed 10,000 acres.

This resolution expresses respect for and solidarity with the families and friends of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned for participating in prodemocracy demonstrations during the spring of 1989 in Tiananmen Square. It also reaffirms support for those who continue to work for political reform, rule of law, and human rights in China.

UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or engaged in the dissemination of anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic ideologies. Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is subject to comprehensive financial audits by an independent auditing firm and is unaffiliated with any financial institutions that the United States considers to be complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The bill also requires the State Department to implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their activities and efforts regarding the UNRWA with U.S. policy objectives, including the phase out of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees in countries other than Israel and in territories not controlled by Israel. The State Department must report to Congress on this plan.

American Energy First Act This bill addresses the onshore and offshore production of traditional (e.g., oil and gas) and alternative (e.g., solar and wind) energy resources and establishes requirements for distributing revenues generated from energy production, including revenues to states and territories for conservation efforts. For example, the bill limits the President's authority to (1) withdraw areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from oil and gas leasing, and (2) declare new marine national monuments. In addition, the Department of the Interior must obtain congressional approval before declaring a moratorium on issuing leases on federal lands or waters for oil, gas, or coal. Further, the bill requires Interior to defer to state regulations, guidance, and permit requirements for all activities regarding hydraulic fracturing (i.e., fracking) relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on federal land. Interior may delegate decisions about issuing oil and gas drill permits on federal land to states. Interior must also establish certain federal land as geothermal, solar, and wind energy leasing priority areas. The bill also allows Interior to conduct certain lease sales, such as offshore wind lease sales on the OCS in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone adjacent to U.S. territories, and establishes requirements for distributing revenues from such leases to the Treasury, the Coral Reef Conservation Fund established by this bill, and U.S. territories.