Sen. John Boozman

Ensuring Quality Care for O ur Veterans Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with a nonfederal organization to conduct a quality management review of hospital care or medical services furnished by each Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provider whose license was terminated by a state licensing board based upon care or services provided in a non-VHA facility. If a review determines that the standard of care was not met, the VA shall notify the individual who received such care or services.

This resolution designates July 30, 2021, as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.

UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or engaged in the dissemination of anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic ideologies. Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is subject to comprehensive financial audits by an independent auditing firm and is unaffiliated with any financial institutions that the United States considers to be complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The bill also requires the State Department to implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their activities and efforts regarding the UNRWA with U.S. policy objectives, including the phase out of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees in countries other than Israel and in territories not controlled by Israel. The State Department must report to Congress on this plan.

Anti-BDS Labeling Act This bill provides statutory authority for the continuation of U.S. policy related to country of origin marking for imported goods that are produced in the West Bank or Gaza. Currently, such goods must carry specified markings that indicate their origin. Further, the bill prohibits the use of any funds made available to the Department of State or to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to rescind or change this policy.

Ensuring Survivor Benefits during COVID-19 Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to obtain a medical opinion that determines whether a service-connected disability was the principal or contributory cause of death for a veteran who died from COVID-19. Specifically, the VA must obtain this determination before notifying a claimant for survivor benefits of the final decision regarding such benefits in any case where a dependency and indemnity compensation claim is filed in relation to a veteran with one or more service-connected disabilities who dies, the death certificate for the veteran identifies COVID-19 as the principal or contributory cause of death, the death certificate does not clearly identify any of the service-connected disabilities as the principal or contributory cause of death, the veteran's service-connected disability includes a condition more likely to cause severe illness from COVID-19, the claimant is not entitled to certain dependency and indemnity compensation benefits, and the evidence to support the claim does not result in a preliminary finding in favor of the claimant. The VA must provide information to veterans, their dependents, and veterans service organizations about applying for dependency and indemnity compensation when a veteran dies from COVID-19. Such information must be available through the VA's website and via other outreach mechanisms.

Certainty for General Aviation Pilots Act of 2021 This bill deems that individuals who provide flight instruction or testing (including phased testing of experimental aircraft) are not operating an aircraft carrying persons or property for hire. Under current law, individuals must generally obtain a regulatory exemption or other authority to deviate from regulatory requirements to provide compensated flight training or testing.

Federal Firearms Licensee Protection Act of 2021 This bill modifies criminal penalties for an offense involving the theft of a firearm from a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer, or from their business premises. Specifically, the bill does the following: increases from 10 to 20 years the maximum prison term, and creates a 3- or 5-year mandatory minimum prison term for an offense that occurs during the commission of a burglary or robbery. An attempt to commit an offense is subject to the same penalties as a substantive offense.

This resolution declares that the Pledge of Allegiance has been a valuable part of life for the people of the United States for generations and defends its constitutionality.

Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the award of federal funds to an institution of higher education (IHE) that hosts or is affiliated with a school-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions to its students or to employees of the IHE or the site. An IHE that hosts or is affiliated with a site must, in order to remain eligible for federal funds, annually certify that the site does not provide abortion drugs or abortions to students or employees.

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act This bill imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, especially the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. The Department of Homeland Security shall report to Congress a strategy for preventing the importation of goods produced in China using forced labor. The strategy must contain certain information, including a list of entities working with the government in Xinjiang to move forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of Xinjiang. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall generally presume that goods produced by these entities and certain other entities, generally those sourcing material from Xinjiang or involved with Chinese government forced labor programs, are barred from importation into the United States. The bill also expands existing asset- and visa-blocking sanctions related to Xinjiang to cover foreign individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses in connection with forced labor. The Department of State shall report to Congress a strategy to enhance international awareness of forced labor in Xinjiang and to address such forced labor.