Transportation Security Preparedness Act of 2021 This bill directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to survey its workforce regarding the TSA's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It must also develop and biennially review a transportation security preparedness plan for addressing future outbreaks of communicable diseases. The Government Accountability Office must submit a report to Congress that contains the results of a study assessing the plan, including an analysis of (1) whether such plan aligns with relevant federal plans and strategies for communicable disease outbreaks, and (2) the extent to which the TSA is prepared to implement the plan.
DHS Industrial Control Systems Capabilities Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill requires the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to maintain certain capabilities to identify and address threats to industrial control systems. Specifically, the bill requires CISA's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to ensure that its activities address the security of both information and operational technology, including industrial control systems. Additionally, CISA must maintain capabilities to identify and address threats and vulnerabilities to products and technologies intended for use in the automated control of critical infrastructure processes by (1) leading efforts to identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats to industrial control systems; (2) maintaining threat hunting and incident response capabilities to respond to cybersecurity risks and incidents; (3) providing cybersecurity technical assistance to stakeholders; and (4) collecting, coordinating, and providing vulnerability information to the industrial control systems community. CISA shall provide to the homeland security committees a briefing on its industrial control systems capabilities at specified intervals. The Government Accountability Office must review and report on implementation of the bill's requirements.
Desert Locust Control Act This bill requires the President to establish an interagency working group to (1) coordinate the U.S. response to the ongoing desert locust outbreak in the East Africa region and its impact on food security and political stability, including in the context of restrictions relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019); (2) review the effectiveness of regional and multilateral efforts to eradicate the desert locust outbreak; and (3) develop and implement a plan to control the desert locust outbreak.
Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act of 2021 or the PHONE Act of 2021 This bill restricts the reassignment of a telephone number assigned to a subscriber for the provision of fixed wireline voice service. Specifically, for up to one year after a major disaster has been declared, a number may not be reassigned except at the request of the subscriber. At the request of a subscriber, this prohibition must be extended for an additional year. Further, a subscriber may cancel service without a cancellation fee and resubscribe with the same number and no fee if the subscriber is located in a disaster area and the residence where the number is located is inaccessible or uninhabitable.
This resolution calls on the United States and North Korea to begin the process of reuniting Korean Americans with their immediate relatives in North Korea. (Many families were divided after the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, which divided the Korean Peninsula into North and South Korea.)
Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnerships Act This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement a program to facilitate and encourage public-private partnerships in order to address and mitigate the physical security and cybersecurity risks of electric utilities. In carrying out the program, DOE must take into consideration different sizes of electric utilities and the regions that such utilities serve, prioritize electric utilities with fewer available resources due to size or region, and utilize and leverage existing DOE programs.
Divided Families Reunification Act This bill directs the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on its consultations with South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically report to Congress on its consultations with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act This bill imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, especially the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. The Department of Homeland Security shall report to Congress a strategy for preventing the importation of goods produced in China using forced labor. The strategy must contain certain information, including a list of entities working with the government in Xinjiang to move forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall generally presume that goods produced by these entities and certain other entities, generally those sourcing material from Xinjiang or involved with Chinese government forced labor programs, are barred from importation into the United States. The bill also expands existing asset- and visa-blocking sanctions related to Xinjiang to cover foreign individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses in connection with forced labor. The Department of State shall report to Congress a strategy to enhance international awareness of forced labor in Xinjiang and to address such forced labor.
Department of Energy Science for the Future Act This bill supports specified research and development activities of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. The bill establishes various programs, including a basic energy sciences research and development program; a program of research and development for the application of advanced computing practices to foundational and emerging research problems in chemistry and materials science; a web-based platform to develop and provide access to a database of computed information on known and predicted materials properties and computational tools to accelerate breakthroughs in materials discovery and design; a biological systems science and climate and environmental science research and development program; research and development activities in biomolecular characterization and imaging science; earth and environmental systems science research; a coastal zone research initiative; an initiative focused on the development of engineered ecosystems; a program to implement a strategy for achieving computing systems with capabilities beyond exascale computing systems; a program of fundamental research and development of energy efficient computing and data center technologies relevant to advanced computing applications; a Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology program or QUEST program; a collaborative research and development program of fusion energy technologies; a research program in elementary particle physics and advanced technology research and development to improve the understanding of the fundamental properties of the universe, including constituents of matter and energy and the nature of space and time; research activities on the nature of the primary contents of the universe, including the nature of dark energy and dark matter; a research program to discover and understand various forms of nuclear matter; a program across the DOE for the production of isotopes, including the development of techniques to produce isotopes, that the DOE determines are needed for research, medical, industrial, or related purposes; a midscale instrumentation program to enable the development and acquisition of novel, state-of-the-art instruments ranging in cost from $1 million to $20 million each that would significantly accelerate scientific breakthroughs at user facilities; and a high intensity laser research initiative. The DOE Office of Science shall continue to leverage U.S. participation in the Large Hadron Collider and prioritize expanding international partnerships and investments in the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. DOE shall support construction of a Facility for Rare Isotope Beams to advance the understanding of rare nuclear isotopes and the evolution of the cosmos. DOE shall expand opportunities to increase the number, diversity, equity, and inclusion of highly skilled science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals working in DOE mission-relevant disciplines and broaden the recruitment pool to increase diversity, including expanded partnerships with Historically Black Colleges, Tribal Colleges, Minority Serving Institutions, emerging research institutions, and scientific societies. DOE shall establish within the DOE Office of Science, a cross-cutting research initiative to leverage the federal government's innovative analytical resources and tools, user facilities, and advanced computational and networking capabilities in order to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19. DOE may not carry out gain-of-function research of concern.
This bill repeals the joint resolution of March 9, 1957, that provided for the use of certain funds to promote peace and stability in the Middle East.
This bill repeals the January 14, 1991, resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq.
National Science Foundation for the Future Act This bill reauthorizes the National Science Foundation (NSF) through FY2026 and authorizes programs and activities at the NSF. The bill establishes requirements for the NSF, including to enter into a contract with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to assess the status and opportunities for Pre-K through 12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science, (STEM) education research; award grants to establish no fewer than three multidisciplinary Centers for Transformative Education Research and Translation to support research and development of STEM education innovations; provide grants for research on programming that engages students in grades Pre-K through 8, including underrepresented and rural students, in STEM in order to prepare such students to pursue degrees or careers in STEM; award grants to support research and development activities to encourage greater collaboration and coordination between institutions of higher education and industry to enhance education, foster hands-on learning experiences, and improve alignment with workforce needs; award grants to establish a network of centers for science and technical education; award grants to advance research on the nature of learning and teaching at community colleges; award grants to establish traineeship programs for graduate students who pursue artificial intelligence-related research leading to a masters or doctorate degree; award grants to carry out research on the cyber workforce; establish a cybersecurity workforce data initiative; carry out a national initiative to facilitate the development of networks and partnerships to broaden participation in STEM studies and careers of groups historically underrepresented in such studies and careers; maintain a Research Security and Policy office to coordinate all research security policy issues across the NSF; award grants to support research to improve our understanding of the climate system and related human and environmental systems; support research to significantly advance our understanding of the food-energy-water system; award grants to advance knowledge of risk assessment and predictability to improve our ability to predict extreme events and natural hazards, including pandemics; and award grants to support basic research that will accelerate innovation to advance critical minerals mining strategies and technologies. The bill also establishes within the NSF a Directorate for Science and Engineering Solutions to advance research and development solutions to address societal and national challenges.
