Stop the Censorship Act This bill limits a social media company's immunity from liability for screening and blocking offensive content on its platform. The bill applies such immunity when the company restricts content that is unlawful rather than merely objectionable. Under current law, such immunity also applies to actions taken to enable or make available the technical means to restrict access to material that is objectionable. The bill instead specifies that this immunity applies to actions taken to (1) make available the technical means to restrict access to material that is unlawful, or (2) provide users with the option to restrict access to any material.
SRES 729 is a Senate resolution designating the week beginning November 7, 2022, as "National Pregnancy Center Week." It recognizes community-supported pregnancy centers across the United States for providing services like counseling, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and material resources to individuals facing pregnancy decisions. The resolution does not create new laws or allocate funds but formally acknowledges these centers' work through symbolic recognition. It highlights their role in serving over 2 million people annually, though the resolution itself has no binding policy effect.
HRES 1297 is a non-binding House resolution designating the week beginning November 7, 2022, as "National Pregnancy Center Week." It recognizes community-supported pregnancy centers - nonprofit organizations providing free services like pregnancy tests, counseling, ultrasounds, and material support - to individuals facing pregnancy decisions. The resolution highlights these centers' role in serving over 2 million people annually through local, volunteer-driven support. As a symbolic gesture, it does not create new policies or alter funding, focusing solely on acknowledging their work.
HRES 1293 is a non-binding House resolution recognizing Elisjsha Dicken, a resident of Seymour, Indiana, for stopping an armed shooter at a Greenwood mall in July 2022. The resolution cites Dicken's actions as saving lives within 15 seconds and notes Indiana's repeal of a handgun permit requirement enabled his lawful carry. It includes statistics on defensive gun use from a CDC study and quotes a police chief calling Dicken "heroic." As a commemorative resolution, it has no policy impact and solely honors Dicken's conduct. (HRES 1293, 117th Congress, 2022)
Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 and otherwise revises the Senior Investor Protection Grant Program. The bill moves the program from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Securities and Exchange Commission, establishes a task force to oversee the program, and eliminates certain grant eligibility requirements.
Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act This bill designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. (A country with this designation is subject to certain restrictions, including a ban on receiving U.S. defense exports and limits on receiving U.S. foreign assistance.)
Defense Production Oversight Act of 2022 This bill authorizes Congress to nullify the President's invocation of authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 by enacting a joint resolution disapproving of the invocation. It also outlines procedures for the consideration of the joint resolution. (The Defense Production Act of 1950 confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in order to provide essential materials and goods needed for the national defense.)
Public Service Reform Act This bill establishes all employees of the executive branch as at-will employees who may be subject to any adverse personnel action with or without cause and without the right to appeal such actions. The bill also establishes specialized removal procedures for career employees (i.e., nonpolitical employees), abolishes the Merit Systems Protection Board, and provides certain allowances for whistleblowers and appeals to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Energy Sector Innovation Credit Act of 2021 This bill adds new tax credits for investment in qualified emerging technology energy property and for the production of electricity from emerging energy technology. The bill defines qualified emerging energy property as property that is constructed, reconstructed, erected, or acquired by the taxpayer and is (1) a facility for the production of electricity from emerging energy technology, (2) carbon capture equipment, or (3) energy storage technology. The bill also adds a new tax credit for the production of electricity from clean hydrogen. The bill defines clean hydrogen as hydrogen that is produced through a production method for which the rate of the greenhouse gas emission is greater than zero and not greater that 2,500g CO2-e per kilogram of hydrogen produced, or is equal to or less than zero.
SRES 724 is a non-binding Senate resolution stating that the Federal Government should continue using the historic definition of a recession - two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth - for economic analysis and policy decisions. The resolution cites that this definition has been consistently applied by the National Bureau of Economic Research to identify U.S. recessions over the past decade, including in all 10 instances of two or more consecutive negative GDP quarters. It does not change any law or require government action, but formally expresses the Senate's view on economic terminology. This resolution directly addresses federal economic reporting standards, not specific groups or policies.
This resolution expresses support for U.S. Border Patrol agents, denounces the politicization and falsification of claims against agents in Del Rio, Texas, and calls on the Biden administration to support front line agents.
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue guidance for state Medicaid programs on best practices to support individuals with major depressive disorder or other mental health conditions, including options that include pharmacogenetic testing.
