Sen. Tim Kaine

Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 20 21 This bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, sell, or transport shark fins or any product containing shark fins, except for certain dogfish fins. A person may possess a shark fin that was lawfully taken consistent with a license or permit under certain circumstances. Penalties are imposed for violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.The maximum civil penalty for each violation shall be $100,000, or the fair market value of the shark fins involved, whichever is greater.

Housing Fairness Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2032 the Fair Housing Initiatives Program and revises program reporting requirements and organization eligibility requirements. The bill also allows the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to enter into agreements with certain organizations to test and investigate differential treatment and discriminatory housing practices based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, and familial status. The results of these tests and investigations may be used as the basis for an enforcement action under specified fair housing laws. Additionally, HUD must establish a grant program for public and private nonprofit organizations to study housing discrimination and implement pilot projects to test solutions.

This resolution condemns the acts of gun violence that led to the tragic loss of eight lives in Georgia on March 16, 2021.

This resolution congratulates the people of Greece as they celebrate the 200th anniversary of Greece's independence. The resolution also expresses support for the principles of democratic governance to which the people of Greece are committed.

Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 This bill reduces statutory mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offenses, requires reporting on the impact of cost savings from the reductions, and establishes a public database of federal criminal offenses. First, the bill reduces statutory mandatory minimum penalties for two types of offenders: (1) individuals who manufacture, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; and (2) couriers who import or export a controlled substance. Second, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings from the reductions in mandatory minimum sentences help to reduce overcrowding in federal prisons, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism. Third, the bill requires DOJ and federal agencies to report on and create public databases of all criminal offenses—criminal statutory offenses and criminal regulatory offenses.

Save Rural Hospitals Act of 2021 This bill establishes an area wage adjustment floor for Medicare hospital payments in states that are not frontier states and excludes such adjustments from certain budget neutrality rules.

This bill requires the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress. The committee shall place the statue in a permanent public location in the U.S. Capitol.

Virginia Wilderness Additions Act of 2021 This bill adds specified additional lands in the George Washington National Forest (a part of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky) to the Rough Mountain Wilderness, and designates specified land in the forest as a potential wilderness area for incorporation into the Rich Hole Wilderness. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) may use motorized equipment and mechanized transport in the potential wilderness area until it is incorporated into the Rich Hole Wilderness in order to enhance natural ecosystems by implementing certain activities to improve water quality and aquatic passage, as described in the Forest Service document titled Decision Notice for the Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Management Project and dated December 2015. In carrying out such water quality and aquatic passage improvement activities, USDA must use the minimum tool or administrative practice that has the least amount of adverse impact on wilderness character and resources.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act of 2021 This bill establishes an Office of Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a grant program to support regional greenhouse gas reduction programs, and an interagency task force. The office must support existing regional greenhouse gas reduction programs and facilitate the establishment of new regional greenhouse gas reduction programs. Such programs use market-based tools to reduce greenhouse gases across states at the regional level. In addition, the office must establish a program that awards grants to a state, local government, or regional consortium of such governments to take preliminary steps towards developing or participating in a regional greenhouse gas reduction program. Finally, the EPA must establish an interagency task force to support new and existing regional programs.

This resolution condemns and denounces all forms of anti-Asian sentiment, including those related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), and calls on federal law enforcement officials, working with state and local agencies, to take specified steps. The resolution calls on federal officials to expeditiously investigate and document all credible reports of hate crimes, harassment, bullying, and threats against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; the Attorney General to work with state and local agencies and Asian American and Pacific Islander community-based organizations to prevent discrimination and to expand culturally competent and linguistically appropriate education campaigns on public reporting of hate crimes; and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance describing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the pandemic. The resolution recommits the United States to serving as a model for the world in building a more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant society by (1) prioritizing language access and inclusivity in communication practices, and (2) combating misinformation and discrimination that puts Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at risk.