Sen. Rick Scott

Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty (SOS) Act of 2022 This bill directs the Department of State and the Department of Defense to permit representatives from Taiwan's government and armed forces to display Taiwan's flag and military insignia at U.S. government-hosted functions. (The U.S.-Taiwan relationship has been unofficial since 1979, when the United States established diplomatic relations with China and broke them with Taiwan.)

This bill prohibits the District of Columbia (DC) from using federal or local funds to require that students in elementary or secondary schools receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill also nullifies the Coronavirus Immunization of School Students and Early Childhood Workers Regulation Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-85), enacted by the DC Council on January 12, 2022.

Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency Act or the START Act This bill sets forth a variety of provisions to expedite the environmental review of energy projects, such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.

Uniform Postal Data Acquisition for Transparency and Early Detection within the United States Postal Service Act or the UPDATED USPS Act This bill modifies requirements relating to advance electronic information for cargo. Specifically, the bill eliminates a restriction on the use of advance electronic information for commercial enforcement, and waivers of the requirement to transmit advance electronic information for countries. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must refuse entry for any international mail shipments for which advance electronic information is not transmitted for shipments received after December 31, 2022. By December 31, 2022, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) shall arrange for the transmission to CBP of information for all international mail shipments. The USPS, at least every 30 days, must publish the number of such shipments for which the information was not transmitted to CBP during the preceding 30-day period. The bill requires monthly reports of specified information, including the volume of international mail shipments and other cargo received by the USPS and private sector importers for which advance electronic information is submitted.

Securing American Acquisitions, Readiness, and Military Stockpiles Act of 2022 or the Securing American ARMS Act of 2022 This bill provides that acquisition procedures other than competitive procedures may be used to (1) replenish United States stockpiles with like defense articles when stockpiles are diminished as a result of the response to an armed attack by a foreign adversary against a U.S. ally or partner, or (2) contract for the movement or delivery of defense articles transferred to such ally or partner through the President's drawdown authorities in connection with such response, provided that the United States is not a party to the hostilities. The head of the applicable agency must provide the congressional defense committees written notification of the use of such procedures within one week after such use.

This bill rescinds unobligated amounts appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 for enforcement activities and operations support.

Simplifying Grants Act of 2022 This bill sets forth procedures for simplifying the grant process for nonurbanized areas, for both existing and new grant programs. Each agency must make publicly available a checklist for covered local governments with respect to each grant program of the agency for which such governments are otherwise eligible that includes each requirement for every step of the grant process. The Office of Management and Budget must report to Congress (1) within 270 days of this bill's enactment, evaluating the extent to which agencies have simplified the requirements and made the checklist available; and (2) each April 1st, evaluating the amount of technical assistance provided and the amount of funds awarded.

This resolution expresses that the Senate has heard the announcement of the death of the Honorable Jacqueline R. Walorski, Congresswoman for the Second Congressional District of Indiana. The resolution also honors Representative Walorski for her service to Indiana and the United States. The resolution expresses that when the Senate adjourns today, it stands adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Representative Walorski.

Maddy summarySRES 747 is a 2022 Senate resolution expressing support for U.S. military cooperation with Finland and Sweden *before* their full NATO membership. It encourages the President to advance specific interim steps, including joint training exercises, technology sharing (like cybersecurity), and infrastructure coordination, to improve how Finland and Sweden's militaries work with U.S. and NATO forces. The resolution does not create new laws but urges the U.S. government to strengthen interoperability in areas like command systems, logistics, and Arctic operations, while also calling on all NATO members to take similar actions. It directly affects U.S. defense policy implementation regarding Finland and Sweden's NATO accession process.

Streamlining Text for Official Policy by Formulating Effective Needed Tools to Address Narcotics, Yearly Loss of life and Protect Americans from Chemical Killers and Against Gangs Effectively Act or the STOP FENTANYL PACKAGE This bill temporarily expands access to drugs that reverse opioid overdoses and makes other changes to drug control activities. The bill expands the authority of health care providers to distribute, and the authority of first responders and lay administrators to administer, opioid overdose reversal drugs. Health care providers may distribute the drugs to those at risk of an overdose or others in the community able to assist an individual at such risk. Additionally, the bill provides immunity from civil and criminal liability and other adverse actions for injuries that arise from distributing or administering those drugs unless the injury was caused by gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. The authority and liability protections terminate 90 days after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminates the on-going opioid public health emergency first declared on October 26, 2017, and the bill preempts state laws that provide lesser protections. Further, the Department of Justice (DOJ) must support training for law enforcement on drug-related matters and upgrading laboratories; HHS and DOJ may award grants for improving data collection and surveillance concerning overdoses. The bill also expands existing drug control activities. For example, recipients may use their community policing grants to procure equipment that protects first responders from secondary fentanyl exposure. Other matters addressed in the bill include interagency coordination of drug control activities; uniform reporting standards for information concerning drug control activities; budgeting for a program that analyzes fentanyl samples; and challenges with implementing State Opioid Response grants.