Verification and Oversight for Transparent Elections, Registration, and Identifications Act or the VOTER ID Act This bill requires states to conduct post-election audits of federal elections and attest to the integrity and security of voting procedures in those elections. Specifically, states must conduct a post-election audit after each federal election. The audit must include the accuracy of voting systems used in the election and an assessment of state compliance with applicable election laws and procedures, including those governing the requirements for voter identification and use of mail-in voting. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must develop best practices for conducting post-election audits, including recommendations to (1) conduct an audit using a bipartisan entity, and (2) complete an audit within 30 days after the state certifies the results of a congressional election. Additionally, states must attest to the integrity and security of their voter identification procedures and maintenance of voter registration lists. States must submit to the EAC, and make publicly available on their websites, these audit results and attestations.
Fund for Innovation and Success in Higher Education Act or the FINISH Act This bill establishes and revises programs to increase access to higher education for high-need students, increase their graduation rates, improve the efficiency of postsecondary education, and evaluate higher education programs. Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Education to award grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) and other entities to develop and implement evidence-based innovations, including pay-for-success initiatives, in order to improve postsecondary access and increase graduation rates of high-need students; approve up to five pay-for-success pilot initiatives each fiscal year to allow IHEs and private entities to use grants for improvement of student outcomes; and independently evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of all higher education grant programs. The bill also encourages IHEs to make all forms of postsecondary instructional content, including open educational resources (e.g., textbooks), widely available. Open educational resources either reside in the public domain or have been released under a copyright license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others.
Civil Aviation Security and Safety Act of 2021 This bill revises and sets forth new requirements for the registration of civilian aircraft. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must conduct a comprehensive review of the process under which it reviews and approves aircraft registration applications and dealer certificates. The bill revises application requirements for aircraft registration to include name, address, date of birth, driver's license or pilot's license (or both if applicable), and applicant photos in the submission of an application. Additionally, the FAA must review Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions data on applicants; ensure that all eligibility and registration information in an application is true and correct before issuing a registration or dealer certificate; increase the fees for registration to a level sufficient to cover the costs to collect and verify applicant data and the costs of inflation; provide to the Drug Enforcement Administration declarations of its international operations to maximize the ability of federal national security and law enforcement agencies in preventing use of the Civil Aviation Registry for illicit purposes and detecting trade-based money laundering and other cross-border schemes; implement an enforcement mechanism for suspending and revoking dealer certificates; and establish an Aircraft Registry Task Force to examine national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues related to civil aircraft registration and develop solutions to mitigate security and safety risks and increase interagency cooperation.
Ensuring Health Safety in the Skies Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services to form a joint task force on air travel during and after the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. The task force must develop recommended requirements, plans, and guidelines to address the health, safety, security, and logistical issues relating to the continuation of air travel during the COVID-19 public health emergency, as well as the resumption of full operations at airports and increased passenger air travel after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. DOT must establish a joint federal advisory committee to advise the task force to include developing and submitting policy recommendations to the task force regarding the recommended requirements, plans, and guidelines that the task force must develop. Additionally, DOT must publish the policy recommendations on a publicly accessible website.
Vaccine Transparency Act of 2021 This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to periodically report to Congress on the serious adverse events in connection with a COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccine that have been reported to either agency.
Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Act This bill authorizes grants to expand training and support services for families and caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. The Department of Health and Human Services may award these grants to community organizations and health care and social service providers.
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish the formula for allocating COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines to states, localities, and federal agencies. HHS must also identify the sources of data it used to develop the formula.
Stop the High-Speed Money Pit Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds for a high-speed rail corridor development project in California that is the same or substantially similar to the project that is the subject of a cooperative agreement entered into on December 16, 2009, between the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the Federal Railroad Administration.
Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021 This bill establishes additional requirements that certain hospitals must meet in order to participate in Medicare. Specifically, as a condition of Medicare participation, hospitals and critical access hospitals that provide neonatal or infant care must have appropriate security procedures to reduce the likelihood of infant patient abduction and baby switching. Noncompliant hospitals are subject to specified civil penalties. The bill also establishes criminal penalties for knowingly altering or destroying a newborn's hospital patient records for the purpose of causing the newborn to be misidentified.
This concurrent resolution commends the service and professionalism of the U.S. Capitol personnel who ensured Congress was able to continue operating in the wake of the security breach on January 6, 2021, and it expresses appreciation for the members of the news media reporting on the work of Congress despite the risk to their own safety.
This resolution prohibits the Senate from considering any measure unless the text of the measure has been publicly available in electronic form for the mandatory minimum review period, and it requires each Senator to certify that they have read a measure prior to voting on it. The mandatory minimum review period, calculated from the time the measure is made publicly available, is the greater of (1) the number of minutes that are equal to two times the number of pages in the measure, or (2) 72 hours.
This resolution establishes the Senate Human Rights Commission to (1) serve as a forum for bipartisan discussion of international human rights issues and promotion of internationally recognized human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (2) raise awareness of international human rights violations through regular briefings and hearings; and (3) collaborate with congressional entities, the executive branch, human rights entities, and nongovernmental organizations to promote human rights initiatives within the Senate. In addition, the resolution prohibits the commission from (1) having legislative jurisdiction; (2) having authority to take legislative action on any bill or resolution; or (3) encroaching upon the jurisdiction of any standing, select, or special committee of the Senate.
