Fairly Assessing Service-related Toxic Exposure Residuals Presumptions Act or the FASTER Presumptions Act This bill revises policies and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) related to establishing or modifying presumptions of service-connection based on toxic exposure. The bill sets up a procedure by which the VA must determine whether to establish, remove, or modify via regulations presumptions of service-connection based on toxic exposure. Specifically, the bill establishes within the VA the Formal Advisory Committee on Toxic Exposure, the Science Review Board, and the Working Group to assist with the various procedures in establishing or removing presumptions of service-connection. Such procedures include assessing the exposure of veterans to toxic substances during active service, evaluating research on the health effects of exposure, and making recommendations based on the evidence and research. The bill also establishes the Expert Advisory Panel on Constrictive Bronchiolitis within the VA to develop guidelines for VA research on symptomatic veterans who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations and have bronchiolitis. The Department of Defense must develop and implement a plan to strengthen data collection with respect to members of the Armed Forces (including the reserve components) who are exposed to toxic substances while serving. The VA must initiate or sponsor various studies related to veterans who served on active duty in certain locations. Finally, the VA must provide annual training to relevant employees to improve the handling of claims for compensation and benefits that relate to toxic exposure.
Palomares Veterans Act of 2021 This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of radioactive materials at Palomares, Spain, as radiation-exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers. Under a presumption of service-connection, specific disabilities diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded.
Access to Assistive Technology and Devices for Americans Study Act or the Triple A Study Act This bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study issues related to health insurance and other coverage for assistive technologies, such as prosthetic devices and custom orthoses, for those who experience amputations or live with a limb difference. In conducting this study, the GAO must include comparisons of claims and other data from Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and commercial health insurers.
Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to concede, for the purposes of health care benefits and wartime disability compensation, that a veteran was exposed to certain toxic substances, chemicals, and hazards from burn pits if such veteran served on active duty in a covered location during a specified time frame (unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed during such service). A burn pit is an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment. Specifically, the bill covers the following locations and corresponding time periods: Iraq between August 2, 1990, and February 28, 1991, as well as from March 19, 2003, until burn pits are no longer used in this location; Somalia and Southwest Asia (including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar) from August 2, 1990, until burn pits are no longer used in these locations; and Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, and Djibouti from September 11, 2001, until burn pits are no longer used in these locations. Under the bill, if an exposed veteran submits insufficient evidence to establish a service-connection for purposes of disability compensation, the VA shall provide a medical examination and request a medical opinion regarding a causal link between the disability and a toxin, chemical, or hazard.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides essential protection for our country from foreign and domestic threats and that defunding DHS would be detrimental to our national security.
3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2021 This bill makes it unlawful to intentionally publish digital instructions for programming a three-dimensional printer to make a firearm.
Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2021 This bill modifies the requirements and penalties applicable to an individual who engages in the business of dealing, importing, or manufacturing firearms (i.e., a federal firearms licensee, or FFL). Among other things, the bill does the following: increases the allowable number of annual compliance inspections; authorizes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to hire at least 80 additional personnel to conduct additional inspections; increases the maximum prison term for an FFL or licensed collector who knowingly makes a false statement or representation in required firearms records; allows the ATF to require an FFL to conduct physical inventories if the FFL unlawfully transfers a firearm or if 10 or more crime guns are traced back to the FFL; allows the ATF to deny an application for a federal firearms license if it would endanger public safety or if the applicant is unlikely to comply with the law; and modifies the liability standard for an FFL who fails to comply with laws or regulations.
Assisting Broadband Connectivity Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Rural Utilities Service, in administering any broadband or telecommunications program, from determining that a project is ineligible for funding because the project has already received state funding. Further, an applicant for funding under such programs may use funds received from a state program to satisfy any matching requirement.
This resolution expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineworker is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)
First Step Implementation Act of 2021 This bill makes various changes related to federal sentencing law and requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish procedures to ensure the prompt release and accuracy of employment-related background check records. The bill allows certain reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to be applied retroactively to offenders who committed their offenses on or before December 21, 2018; permits a court, in certain circumstances, to grant safety valve relief (i.e., impose a sentence without regard to the statutory mandatory minimum penalty for certain drug offenses) for an otherwise eligible defendant who does not meet the requirement pertaining to criminal history; permits a court to reduce a sentence imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile if the defendant has served at least 20 years of the sentence; establishes a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses; and requires DOJ to establish and enforce procedures to ensure that records exchanged for employment-related background checks are promptly released and accurate.
Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021 This bill limits the consideration of acquitted conduct (e.g., conduct underlying criminal charges for which an individual was found not guilty) by a federal court at sentencing.
Preserving Rules Ordered for The Entities Covered Through 340B Act of 2021 or the PROTECT 340B Act of 2021 This bill prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health insurance plans from discriminating against health providers participating in the 340B drug pricing program, including pharmacies contracted with such providers to dispense 340B drugs. The 340B program allows certain providers to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers. Specifically, PBMs and insurance plans may not reimburse 340B participants at a lower rate than other entities not participating in the program; impose differing terms (such as fees, charge-backs, or audits) on 340B participants; interfere with an individual's choice to receive drugs from a 340B participant; require 340B participants to identify which drugs fall within the program; or refuse to contract with a 340B participant on the basis that they utilize the program. Violations of this bill are subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 per violation per day. These prohibitions also apply to prescription drug (Part D) sponsors under Medicare. The bill also provides for a process to prevent duplicate 340B drug discounts to states under Medicaid.
