This resolution expresses support for the designation of National Estuaries Week.
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the men and women who undertook efforts in Afghanistan over the years have provided heroic service to the country and the peace experienced by the United States is a direct result of the actions of the service members, diplomats, and humanitarians. The concurrent resolution also expresses that veterans who feel stress, anger, or disappointment over the end of operations in Afghanistan should seek resources and reach out to friends, mentors, and caregivers.
This bill posthumously provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of the 13 service members who died on August 26, 2021, while stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the men and women who undertook efforts in Afghanistan over the years have provided heroic service to the country and the peace experienced by our country is a direct result of the actions of our service members, diplomats, and humanitarians. The concurrent resolution also expresses that veterans who feel stress, anger, or disappointment over the end of operations in Afghanistan should seek resources and reach out to friends, mentors, and caregivers.
This resolution (1) recognizes the success of the Hamilton-class Coast Guard cutters, and (2) commends the officers and crew who have served on them.
Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2021 This bill provides continuing appropriations to prevent a government shutdown if any of the appropriations bills for a fiscal year have not been enacted before the fiscal year begins and continuing appropriations are not in effect. The bill also limits official travel, congressional recesses or adjournments, and the consideration of legislation that is unrelated to appropriations after the beginning of a fiscal year if the appropriations process has not been completed.
Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act This bill authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to postpone federal tax filing deadlines upon the written request of a governor of a state in which an emergency or disaster has been declared. The bill also extends current mandatory extensions from 60 to 120 days. For purposes of this bill, a state includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
John Stringer Rainey Save America's Forgotten Equines Act or the John Stringer Rainey SAFE Act This bill prohibits the knowing sale or transport of horses for purposes of human consumption. Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful to knowingly possess, ship, transport, purchase, sell, deliver, or receive a horse for it to be slaughtered for human consumption. It also makes it unlawful to knowingly possess, ship, transport, purchase, sell, deliver, or receive horse flesh, carcass, or part of a carcass for it to be used for human consumption. Violators are subject to criminal penalties.
Promoting Readiness and Ensuring Proper Active pharmaceutical ingredient Reserves of Essential medicines Act of 2021 or the PREPARE Act This bill establishes the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Reserve. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must annually publish a public list of essential generic medicines that are medically necessary to have available at all times. HHS must report and implement a plan to establish the reserve, which must be designed to minimize the impact of an interruption or reduction in imports of (1) key starting materials (including active pharmaceutical ingredients) for essential generic medicines, and (2) finished dosage forms of essential generic medicines for which key starting materials are not imported. The plan must also contain provisions to strengthen domestic capacity for active pharmaceutical ingredient production, storage, and conversion. Within one year of this bill's enactment, the plan must include at least 25 of the essential generic medicines on the required list. The plan must add at least 25 medicines each year until the full list is covered. HHS must prioritize domestically manufactured key starting materials for the reserve to the maximum extent possible. A manufacturer of an essential generic medicine that switches to an active pharmaceutical ingredient sourced through the reserve shall not have to update the approved application for that medicine. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing, including the time and costs needed to develop domestic manufacturing capabilities.
John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices may take effect. Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights. A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if 15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 25 years; 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least 1 of which was committed by the state itself; or 3 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years and the state administers the elections. A political subdivision as a separate unit shall also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years. States and political subdivisions that meet certain thresholds regarding minority groups must preclear covered practices before implementation, such as changes to methods of election and redistricting. Further, states and political subdivisions must notify the public of changes to voting practices. Next, the bill authorizes DOJ to require states or political subdivisions to provide certain documents or answers to questions for enforcing voting rights. The bill also outlines factors courts must consider when hearing challenges to voting practices, such as the extent of any history of official voting discrimination in the state or political subdivision.
This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report to Congress on projections of the estimated tax gap (i.e., the difference between tax liabilities owed to the IRS and those liabilities that the IRS actually collects). The IRS may use artificial intelligence and related data analysis tools to calculate a tax gap projection. The bill also requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to issue periodic reports to the congressional tax committees on the tax gap projection. The bill restricts IRS funding to FY2021 levels for audits and enforcement until it publishes an updated tax gap projection. Funding is also restricted for certain purposes, including (1) targeting U.S. citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights, (2) targeting a group for regulatory scrutiny based on its ideological beliefs, and (3) auditing individual taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $400,000. The bill directs the IRS to establish a fellowship program to recruit private sector tax experts to join the IRS to create and participate in the audit task force. The purposes of the tax force include performing audit case selection, educating IRS employees on emerging issues, auditing selected taxpayers, addressing offshore tax evasion, and identifying, mentoring, and training IRS junior employees with respect to audits.
NFIP Extension Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program through September 30, 2022. The bill shall take effect as if it had been enacted on September 30, 2021.
