Sen. Ted Budd

Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act This bill directs the Department of State to designate the Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas as foreign terrorist organizations and to submit a detailed report on those drug cartels and any other cartels it may identify. Based on this report, the State Department must designate as a foreign terrorist organization any such identified cartel (or faction thereof) that meets certain criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization.

Silencers Help Us Save Hearing Act or the SHUSH Act This bill modifies the treatment of silencers under federal statutes governing the sale, transfer, and possession of firearms. Specifically, it removes silencers from the list of firearms subject to regulation (i.e., registration and licensing requirements) under the National Firearms Act (NFA). Additionally, it excludes a muffler or silencer from the list of firearms subject to regulation (e.g., background check requirements) under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). Finally, the bill does the following: preempts state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers, specifies that a person who lawfully acquires or possesses a silencer under provisions of the GCA meets the registration and licensing requirements of the NFA, eliminates mandatory minimum prison terms for a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense in which a defendant uses or carries a firearm equipped with a silencer or muffler, and permits active and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed silencer.

Red Tape Reduction Act This bill grants the force and effect of law to various executive orders relating to administrative procedures that were rescinded on January 20, 2021, including orders requiring agencies to (1) identify at least two regulations for repeal before publishing notice of a proposed new rule, and (2) rescind guidance documents that are no longer in effect.

Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act This bill expands the E-Verify program by requiring all employers to use it and permanently reauthorizes the program. Currently, E-Verify use is voluntary for most employers, although some states mandate its use. All employers shall use E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all recruited, referred, or hired individuals, including current employees who were never verified under the program. Failure to use E-Verify shall create a rebuttable presumption that the employer is violating immigration law. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall generate weekly reports about individuals who have received a final nonconfirmation of employment eligibility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall use the report to enforce immigration laws. DHS shall establish a program to help certain small businesses verify employee eligibility. DHS shall also update E-Verify's design to help prevent and detect fraud and identity theft. The bill increases civil and criminal penalties for hiring unauthorized aliens. DHS shall debar repeat offenders and those criminally convicted from holding federal contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. The Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, and DHS shall jointly establish a program to share information to help identify unauthorized aliens. The bill establishes the Employer Compliance Inspection Center within Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The center's duties include processing I-9 employment eligibility verification forms and ensuring compliance with employment eligibility laws. DHS shall report to Congress on ways to simplify procedures relating to I-9 forms and on whether the I-9 process should be eliminated.

Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2021 This bill allows certain individuals to sue and recover damages for harm from exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987. This action is available only to individuals who were exposed to contaminated water for at least 30 days. The bill prohibits the U.S. government from asserting specified immunity from litigation in response to such a lawsuit. The bill also prohibits an individual who brings such an action from bringing a separate tort action against the United States based on the same harm.

Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act This bill explicitly grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over criminal conduct involving the killing (or attempted killing) of a federal officer or employee. The United States may prosecute such conduct that occurs outside the United States.

Criminalize Fleeing from Immigration Enforcement Act of 2021 This bill revises the federal criminal offense involving flight from an immigration checkpoint or other law enforcement checkpoint at high speed in a motor vehicle. Specifically, the bill retains the existing prohibition on flight from an immigration or other law enforcement checkpoint, but it removes the qualifier that such flight must be at high speed in a motor vehicle. The bill also expands the scope of unlawful flight offenses to include flight from a law enforcement officer who is enforcing immigration laws. An unlawful flight offense is generally punishable by a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both. However, an unlawful flight offense that involves high-speed flight in a motor vehicle is punishable by a fine, prison term of up to eight years, or both.

Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act This bill prohibits the Department of the Treasury from requiring a financial institution to report the transfers into and out of a financial account. This prohibition does not apply to laws or regulations in effect on October 1, 2021.

Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act or the FARM Act This bill places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and it requires the committee to review any investment that could result in foreign control of any U.S. agricultural business. Further, it includes agricultural systems and supply chains in the definitions of critical infrastructure and critical technologies for the purposes of reviewing such investments. The Department of Agriculture and the Government Accountability Office must each analyze and report on foreign influence in the U.S. agricultural industry.

Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021 This bill excludes certain offerings of digital tokens (i.e., a digital representation of value or rights recorded on a publicly available ledger) from securities registrations. The exclusion from securities registration is in effect until the later of 3 years from the date of the first sale of a token or 3 years after the effective date of the bill. During this exclusionary period, the initial development team of a token must disclose every 6 months details of the network—the system of connected devices that create and validate the ledger of transactions. This includes disclosure of the source code, the transaction history, the economics of the token, the plan to achieve network maturity, prior token sales, information regarding the team, trading platforms used, and certain material transactions. On or before the end of this period, the team must report to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the maturity of the network. Network maturity is reached either through decentralization of the network or through network functionality, as specified by the bill. If network maturity is not reached within 3 years, the initial development team must register the tokens as a security.