Improving Access to Indian Health Services Act This bill permanently extends certain Medicaid flexibilities relating to Indian health care providers. Specifically, the bill permanently expands coverage to include clinical services that are furnished outside of a clinic by an Indian Health Service (IHS) facility, a tribe or tribal organization, or an Urban Indian Organization (UIO). Current guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows IHS and tribal facilities to receive payment for clinical services provided outside of clinics through October 31, 2021; facilities are expected to work with their state Medicaid programs to transition to other, more permanent payment options for these services. The bill also permanently establishes a 100% federal matching rate, also known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), for UIO services. Current law provides a 100% FMAP for UIO services during the eight fiscal quarters after March 11, 2021.
No Glory for Hate Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to commemorate a president twice impeached by the House of Representatives and restricts the benefits afforded such president after leaving office. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for any symbol, monument, structure, building, or public land commemorating a former president twice impeached or who has been convicted of a state or federal crime relating to actions taken in an official capacity. The bill also restricts the benefits given to former presidents who have been twice impeached, including with regard to pension, staff, travel, and burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026, revises, and establishes grants and activities to promote access to telecommunications services, including broadband internet. The bill addresses digital equity and inclusion through grants and by requiring studies on barriers to adopting broadband services and related matters. The bill addresses broadband affordability and access. It (1) reauthorizes and expands programs that subsidize or support broadband services for, among others, eligible households, schools, and minority communities; and (2) establishes a program for expanding broadband service for underserved areas and community support organizations (e.g., religious organizations). Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must expand programs that verify an individual's eligibility for subsidized telecommunications services. The bill addresses matters concerning broadband data. The FCC must (1) issue rules for collecting pricing data and labels for disclosing information about broadband plans to consumers, and (2) collaborate and share data with federal agencies and stakeholders. The bill makes financing (e.g., low-interest loans) available to communities and public-private partnerships for broadband infrastructure investments and creates grants to establish or expand certain internet exchange facilities and submarine cable landing stations. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must require states to install conduits for broadband cables as part of certain highway projects. The bill also sets up a task force on nationwide dig once requirements (i.e., policies or practices to minimize excavations of highway rights-of-way when installing telecommunications infrastructure). Further, the bill preempts state laws that prohibit certain telecommunications service providers (e.g., public providers) from providing high-speed broadband services.
Grand Canyon Protection Act This bill withdraws 1,006,545 acres of federal lands in Arizona, including any land or interest in land acquired by the United States after enactment of this bill, from entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws and mineral materials laws.
Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act This bill requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish requirements for certain entities when they collect, transmit, store, process, use, or otherwise control sensitive personal information. Information relating to an identifiable individual is generally considered sensitive personal information. However, information that is publicly available is not considered sensitive. Specifically, these entities must (1) obtain affirmative consent from users for functionality related to the disclosure of sensitive personal information, (2) publish a privacy and data use policy that is readily understandable, (3) provide users the ability to opt-out of the sharing of their nonsensitive information, and (4) obtain at least once every two years a privacy audit that evaluates the sufficiency of the entity's data privacy and security controls. These requirements do not apply to the collection or sharing of sensitive or nonsensitive personal information for certain purposes such as detecting fraud or identity theft. The bill provides authority for the FTC and state attorneys general to enforce these requirements. Additionally, the FTC must hire 500 new employees to focus on privacy and data security.
Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct an interagency review of the status of women and lung cancer. The review must report on the status of existing research and current knowledge gaps; identify new opportunities for collaborative research to determine the causes of lung cancer and advance prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment; and provide recommendations for a national cancer screening strategy and public education campaign.
Energizing American Shipbuilding Act of 2021 This bill directs (1) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require specified percentages of liquefied natural gas exports to be transported on vessels built or retrofitted in the United States and documented under its laws, and (2) the President to require specified percentages of crude oil exports to be transported on vessels built or retrofitted in the United States and documented under its laws. FERC and the President may waive these requirements under specified circumstances. The Energy Information Administration must collect and publish information on exports of natural gas and crude oil by vessels, including forecasts and data on those exports.
Protecting Access to Safe and Effective Medicines Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for the existing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) practice of defining active ingredient more narrowly as active moiety in certain situations, such as when determining whether a new drug is entitled to a market exclusivity period or providing priority review of drugs for treating rare pediatric diseases. Generally, the FDA defines active moiety as the core molecule or ion in a drug responsible for the relevant physiological or pharmacological action. By contrast, the FDA defines an active ingredient as a component in a drug that is intended to furnish pharmacological activity or other direct effect. The FDA's existing practice of interpreting active ingredient as active moiety in certain situations, as statutorily authorized by this bill, tends to exclude some drugs from market exclusivity. The bill replaces references to active ingredient with active moiety in various statutes authorizing FDA activities.
Funding for Aviation Screeners and Threat Elimination Restoration Act or the FASTER Act This bill repeals the requirement that a portion of aviation security service fees collected from passengers be credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. It requires such fees to be deposited into a separate account in the Treasury for expenditure to pay only the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed (i.e., aviation security screening).
This bill designates the portion of U.S. Route 80 from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Highway.
This resolution condemns the February 1, 2021, military coup in Burma (Myanmar) and calls on Burmese authorities to allow journalists, human rights organizations, United Nations monitors, and humanitarian actors full and safe access to every part of the country. The resolution also asks neighboring countries to provide immediate and direct cross-border assistance to address the humanitarian needs of refugees.
Wastewater Efficiency and Treatment Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a Water and Energy Efficiency Program. Under the program, DOE must award grants to certain small public wastewater treatment facilities that serve disadvantaged communities or populations that do not exceed 10,000. The facilities must use the grants to conduct energy efficiency audits of the facilities and update equipment based on the audits. In addition, DOE must provide loan guarantees to eligible municipalities and Indian tribes for (1) projects that convert waste in the treatment process of wastewater treatment facilities into renewable fuels, biosolids, or other byproducts; and (2) projects that will assist in transitioning facilities towards the use of energy-efficient technologies. In carrying out the program, DOE must establish a small-scale extension services program to provide assistance to rural communities through grants, outreach, training, and technical assistance regarding energy-efficient technologies at wastewater treatment facilities in eligible municipalities and tribes.
