Support Through Loss Act This bill provides employees with 24 hours of paid leave time each year for an absence resulting from a pregnancy loss or other specified circumstance related to pregnancy, fertility, or an unsuccessful assisted reproductive procedure or adoption match. Employers must notify each employee about the availability of this paid leave and may not discriminate or discharge an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise the right to such paid leave. The bill provides for enforcement of this requirement by the Department of Labor and through civil action brought by an employee or individual. Further, the bill requires specified federal agencies to conduct research and publish information about pregnancy loss and related evidence-based treatment options.
Federally Funded Research and Technology Development Protection Act This bill addresses issues of transparency and accountability in federal grant-making to safeguard federally funded research and technology development. Specifically, the Office of Management and Budget must (1) require that any agency that makes a federal grant maintains compliance operations to guard against malign foreign talent recruitment programs, and (2) prescribe standardized disclosure and accountability measures to support such operations. Malign foreign talent recruitment is defined as an effort organized, managed, or funded by a foreign government to recruit any individual or public or private entity engaged in research funded by a federal agency to share information with, or otherwise act on behalf of, such government.
AI in Counterterrorism Oversight Enhancement Act This bill expands the responsibilities of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to include oversight of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in counterterrorism and addresses related issues. Specifically, the board must continually review any AI-enabled technologies used in counterterrorism efforts and determine whether such technologies protect privacy and civil liberties and adhere to relevant policies. The bill also expands the board's authorities to access or subpoena information to include information about AI-enabled technologies used for counterintelligence, such as the training and testing processes for such technologies. Furthermore, the bill expands the responsibilities of privacy and civil liberties officers to include responsibilities related to AI-enabled technologies used in counterterrorism. (Currently, the statute requires certain departments and agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to each designate one senior officer as a privacy and civil liberties officer to provide certain information to the board.)
Divided Families Reunification Act This bill directs the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on its consultations with South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically report to Congress on its consultations with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.
Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act This bill provides paid family and medical leave to federal employees. Currently, federal employees are entitled to 12 weeks of administrative leave for one or more of the following reasons: (1) the birth of a child, (2) the adoption or foster care of a child, (3) the care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition, (4) inability to work due to a serious health condition, and (5) exigencies relating to an immediate family member's active duty service in the Armed Forces. However, of these reasons, employees are entitled to paid administrative leave only in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care of a child (i.e., parental leave). The bill provides 12 weeks of paid administrative leave for any of these reasons, and specifies that this leave is in addition to any annual or sick leave to which employees are entitled.
This resolution supports the goals of Bebe Moore Campbell BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, including bringing attention to the mental health disparities faced by communities of color.
Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act of 2021 This bill allows the release of a transfer student's educational records from an institution of postsecondary education where a student earned credit for coursework to an institution of postsecondary education where the student was previously enrolled in order to apply the student's coursework and credits toward completion of a recognized postsecondary credential, such as an associate's degree. Specifically, the bill allows the Department of Education to provide funding to an institution of postsecondary education that releases a student's records of postsecondary coursework and credits without the consent of the student or the student's parents if the student provides written consent prior to receiving the credential.
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to establish the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift, and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon their sincerely held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act); and (2) who have certified their beliefs in writing. Amounts deposited in the fund shall be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose. Treasury shall report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the total amount transferred into the fund during the preceding fiscal year and the purposes for which such amount was allocated. The privacy of individuals using the fund shall be protected.
Home for the Brave Act of 2021 This bill excludes from income veterans' service-connected disability or death benefits for purposes of determinations made in connection with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing assistance programs.
National Strategy for the Global Information Domain Act This bill establishes a temporary working group, comprised of members (or attendees) of the National Security Council who are appointed by the President, to develop a national strategy for the global information domain. The global information domain refers to a sphere of strategic competition in which state and nonstate actors create, distort, obtain, disseminate, or otherwise engage with information to influence public opinion for national security, geopolitical, or economic purposes. The global information domain strategy must, among other requirements, (1) prioritize the domain as vital to U.S. national security, (2) describe how adversarial actors define and control the domain and their use of artificial intelligence-enabled malign information, and (3) make recommendations to counter adversarial efforts.
Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics Act of 2021 This bill establishes separate payment requirements for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals under the Medicare prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department services. The bill's requirements apply to diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals that have an average daily cost of $500 or more in 2022 and as adjusted based on a specified fee schedule factor in each year thereafter.
Building Rail Across Intercity Networks To Ride Around Interior of the Nation Act or the BRAIN TRAIN Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish an intercity passenger rail service investment program to promote high-performance rail transportation options. DOT may award competitive grants under the program to finance capital projects for high-performance rail, including grants awarded in installments for projects lasting longer than one year. In awarding grants, DOT must select high-performance rail projects (1) that are anticipated to result in significant improvements to intercity rail passenger service, (2) for which there is a high degree of confidence that the proposed projects are feasible and will result in the anticipated benefits, and (3) for which the level of the anticipated benefits compares favorably to the amount of federal funding requested. The federal share of the cost of a capital project shall not exceed 90% of the project's net capital cost.
