China COVID-19 Restitution Act This bill requires the President to impose duties on goods and components manufactured in China and to use the collected funds to provide compensation and reimbursement for losses related to COVID-19. From this bill's enactment until December 31, 2021, the President must impose a 10% ad valorem duty on any good manufactured in China and any component manufactured in China and incorporated in a good imported from any country. This duty shall increase by an additional 10% each calendar year after 2021. The amounts from this duty shall go into a trust fund, which shall also include any amounts provided by China's government to provide compensation and reimbursement related to COVID-19. Using the amounts in the trust fund, the Department of Justice shall establish and administer a program to provide compensation and reimbursement for economic and financial losses related to COVID-19, including for assistance made available by the federal government.
Nuclear Family Priority Act This bill imposes limits on various types of family-sponsored immigration visas. The alien parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives , which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives. The bill also creates a nonimmigrant visa for such parents of citizens. Such aliens shall not be eligible for employment or any public benefits. The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 88,000, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000. Preference allocations (visa categories subject to various annual caps) for various family-sponsored visas shall be eliminated, including those for the siblings and married children of citizens. The bill provides for a preference allocation for the unmarried children under 21 and spouses of permanent residents, subject to the 88,000 annual cap.
Cutting Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens Act This bill generally requires agencies to repeal at least two rules before promulgating a major rule (i.e., a rule with a significant economic impact, cost to consumers, or adverse effects on competition). Further, unless required by law, an agency may not issue a rule that exceeds the total cost of the rules to be repealed without approval by the Office of Management and Budget. These requirements do not apply to major rules related to agency procedures, the Armed Forces, national security, or foreign affairs.
Fairness in Firearm Testing Act This bill establishes additional requirements for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Specifically, the bill requires the ATF to make a video recording of its process for evaluating and testing an item to determine if it is a firearm or ammunition.
Disarm Hate Act The bill expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm. Specifically, it prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and receipt, possession, shipment, or transport by a person (1) who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) who has received an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.
World Deserves To Know Act This bill requires sanctions on certain members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and officials of Chinese health agencies. It also addresses related issues. The President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is a CCP official and who is knowingly responsible for or complicit in (1) the disappearances of whistleblowers and citizen journalists in China relating to COVID-19, or (2) limiting free speech and academic freedom in China relating to COVID-19. The President must also impose such sanctions on specified individuals who have leadership positions in China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and China's National Health Commission (NHC). The authority to impose such sanctions shall end when the President certifies to Congress that an independent and unimpeded investigation into the potential origin of COVID-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has taken place. The bill also bars federal funds and certain federal student assistance from going to institutions of higher education that enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. Federal funding to the National Academy of Sciences may not be used to enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress a review of all funds that the National Institutes of Health have made available to the NHC since FY2010. This report must also be publicly available.
Firearm Due Process Protection Act This bill expands the grounds for pursuing judicial remedies related to certain firearm transfers. Additionally, the bill establishes procedural rules applicable to actions for judicial remedies. Current law authorizes judicial remedies for an individual who is erroneously denied a firearm (e.g., an individual is denied a firearm but the individual is eligible to receive or possess a firearm). This bill authorizes remedies for an individual who experiences an extended delay (i.e., a delay of more than 60 days) on a firearm transfer. Additionally, the bill requires an expedited hearing on an action for judicial remedies and places the burden of proof on the respondent to show by clear and convincing evidence that the individual was ineligible to receive or possess a firearm.
COVID-19 Safer Detention Act of 2021 This bill expands statutory authority for federal prisoners to be released before completing their sentences or to be placed in the community to serve the final portion of their sentences. First, the bill makes changes to the early release pilot program. The early release pilot program authorizes the Bureau of Prisons to release early and place on home confinement elderly offenders and terminally ill offenders who meet eligibility criteria. This bill expands eligibility to offenders serving time for an offense under the laws of the District of Columbia, expands eligibility to offenders who have served at least one-half (currently, two-thirds) of their prison term, reduces the amount of time an offender must serve by the good time credits earned by the offender, and creates a judicial review process for prisoners and shortens the waiting period for judicial review during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the bill modifies the compassionate release process. The compassionate release process authorizes federal courts to reduce a prisoner's sentence and impose a term of probation or supervised released in certain circumstances. This bill expands eligibility to prisoners sentenced before November 1, 1987, specifies that vulnerability to COVID-19 is a basis for compassionate release, and shortens the waiting period for judicial review during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eviction Prevention Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to provide grants to state and local governments to make legal counsel available to eligible tenants undergoing eviction proceedings. An eligible tenant is an individual whose income is less than 125% of the federal poverty level. The bill also requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a national database of evictions. The Government Accountability Office must report on the national status of legal representation of tenants in eviction proceedings, including the effects of access to representation on case outcomes.
Safeguarding United States Research Act This bill imposes certain reporting requirements on the sponsor of an F, M, or J (student or exchange visitor) visa and authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to revoke such a visa in certain instances. It also expands disclosure requirements for applicants of federal research and development awards. The Department of State must require a sponsor of a J visa to report any change to the visa holder's primary field of study. The State Department and DHS shall require a sponsor of an F, M, or J visa to report when the visa holder is participating in a federally funded research program. DHS may review and revoke an F, M, or J visa in certain instances, such as finding that (1) the visa holder misrepresented an intention to pursue a field of study, or (2) the visa holder's participation in a federally funded research program poses a national security risk. The bill also imposes certain limits on the ability to appeal such a revocation decision. The bill also requires applications for federal research and development awards to disclose any in-kind contributions received by the applicant. Furthermore, if an applicant works for an institution that is required to file disclosures relating to the receipt of foreign gifts, the application for the federal award must include a certification that the applicant has provided the employing institution all the information necessary to comply with that disclosure requirement.
Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2021 This bill expands access to free sanitary napkins and tampons (i.e., menstrual products) in certain locations and for particular groups. It also requires Medicaid to cover menstrual products, as well as liners, cups, and similar items used by individuals with respect to menstruation. Specifically, the bill imposes requirements to make free menstrual products available in federal and state correctional facilities (including facilities that house aliens detained by the Department of Homeland Security) and restrooms in federal buildings that are open to the public. It also establishes a demonstration grant program to support the provision of free menstrual products on campuses of institutions of higher education and permits elementary and secondary schools to use certain grants to provide menstrual products to students. Furthermore, the bill requires employers with at least 100 employees to provide free menstrual products for employees. It also permits the use of certain grants for emergency food and shelter to provide menstrual products to homeless individuals.
Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct background checks before releasing from custody an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States. Specifically, before releasing such an individual from detention while removal proceedings are pending, DHS must conduct a background check using criminal history databases covering the United States, the individual's country of origin, and any country that the individual transited through. DHS may not release the individual if the individual is (1) facing charges for (or convicted of) an aggravated felony, (2) a member of a criminal street gang, or (3) subject to mandatory detention on various crime- or security-related grounds. Furthermore, DHS must review and determine whether the criminal history databases of countries around the world meet standards for accessibility, accuracy, and other factors. DHS may not release a detained individual if a background check for that individual is required from a country with databases that fail to meet the relevant standards.
