Sen. Mike Braun

This bill requires the President to take actions against Ansarallah, the Iran-backed movement in Yemen also known as the Houthis. Specifically, the President must designate Ansarallah a foreign terrorist organization. The President must also impose sanctions on Ansarallah and any foreign person (individual or entity) that is an official, agent, or affiliate of Ansarallah. The President must also report to Congress a determination as to whether specified foreign persons are officials, agents, or affiliates of Ansarallah.

This resolution recognizes and promotes the importance of parental involvement in the education of children and recognizes the necessity of school choice as a tool to empower parents to choose the best educational environment for their children.

Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals Act or the FAUCI Act This bill broadens the scope of executive branch employees and officers whose financial disclosures are subject to automatic electronic publication by including highly compensated executive branch officers and employees. The bill also requires the Office of Government Ethics to provide public access to a list of highly compensated executive branch officers and employees who file confidential financial disclosures under existing law, including the specific types of information disclosed in the confidential report.

Restore Parental and Consumer Medical Rights in the Nation's Capital Act This bill nullifies the following actions of the government of the District of Columbia: Order 2021-148 issued by the Mayor on December 22, 2021 (relating to vaccination requirements for entrance into certain indoor establishments and facilities); and the Coronavirus Immunization of School Students and Early Childhood Workers Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-285), enacted by the District of Columbia Council on January 12, 2022.

Prohibiting Private Sector Vaccine Mandates Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to carry out the emergency temporary standard issued by the Department of Labor for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in employment settings. Under the standard issued on November 15, 2021, employers with 100 or more employees must require their onsite employees to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Labor withdrew the standard effective January 26, 2022.

Coronavirus Origin Validation, Investigation, and Determination Act of 2022 or the COVID Act of 2022 This bill requires the President to impose sanctions and take other actions related to COVID-19 if certain conditions are not met. Specifically, if the President is unable to certify within 90 days of this bill's enactment that China's government has allowed a transparent international forensic investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and certain laboratories in the city of Wuhan, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against (1) individuals with leadership positions in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); and (2) officials of the Chinese Communist Party, China's military, or China's State Council who were involved in concealing or restricting information about the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China. If the certification cannot be made, the President must also (1) prohibit federal funding for collaborative projects between U.S.-based researchers and CAS researchers in any academic field, and (2) prohibit U.S.-based researchers and institutions that receive federal funding from engaging in certain research on viruses with individuals or institutions based in China.

Thin Blue Line Act This bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

This concurrent resolution calls for honoring the 236th anniversary of the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on Religious Freedom Day, January 16, 2022. The resolution affirms that religious freedom includes the right of individuals of any faith and individuals of no faith to live, work, associate, and worship in accordance with their beliefs; all people of the United States can be unified in supporting religious freedom because it is a fundamental human right; and the American people will remain forever unshackled in matters of faith.

Promoting Access to Critical Countermeasures by Ensuring Specimen Samples to Diagnostics Act or the Promoting ACCESS to Diagnostics Act This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the development of medical products and diagnostic tests for emerging infectious diseases. Specifically, HHS must develop policies and procedures governing access by public and private entities to samples of pathogens (or suitable surrogates). The samples may be used for preparedness and response activities, developing medical products for emerging infectious diseases, and similar purposes. Additionally, HHS may contract with public and private entities to increase the capacity to rapidly develop, validate, and disseminate diagnostic tests to health departments and other entities to respond to emerging infectious diseases with significant potential to cause a public health emergency.

Creating Efficiency in Foreign Facility Inspections Act This bill prohibits, with some exceptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from providing notification in advance of a planned inspection of an establishment located outside of the United States that is engaged in drug manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding. Specifically, the FDA may not provide such an establishment advance notification of a planned inspection unless (1) advance notification is required by the laws of the country where the establishment is located; (2) providing advance notification is needed to protect the public health; or (3) the inspection in question is a preapproval, prelicensure, or for-cause inspection. If the FDA must provide advance notification, it must minimize the time between the notification and the inspection. If an establishment is located in a country that, on or after the date this bill is enacted, enacts a law requiring advance notification of inspections, the drug manufacturer must agree to waive the right to enforce the requirement, to the extent expressly permitted by the law.