Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements related to U.S. international energy strategy. Applications to export natural gas to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, Japan, and certain other countries shall be granted on an expedited basis without modification or delay. The President shall impose sanctions on a person that provides certain equipment, investment, or services to the Russian government or related entities for constructing or servicing Russian energy export pipelines. The Department of State shall report to Congress on a strategy to enhance the energy security of NATO member countries and increase exports of U.S. energy (and related technologies and services) to such countries.
Parental Consent for Vaccination Act This bill stipulates that any COVID-19 vaccine mandate issued by Congress or an executive agency must require the written, informed consent of a legal guardian when a COVID-19 vaccine is administered to an individual under the age of 18.
Helping Enable Access to Lifesaving Services Act or the HEALS Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 multiple programs that support education and training for mental and behavioral health care professionals. It also extends until FY2026 liability protections for health care professionals who volunteer their services at community health centers. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes grants for health professional schools and related programs for mental and behavioral health education and training; a demonstration program that trains health care professionals to provide mental and behavioral health services in underserved, community-based settings; and a fellowship program to provide postbaccalaureate training to improve the quality of mental health and substance use disorder services for racial and ethnic minority populations.
Natural Immunity Is Real Act This bill requires all federal agencies to acknowledge and consider natural immunity to COVID-19 when promulgating any regulation related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act This bill prohibits the Department of the Treasury from requiring a financial institution to report the transfers into and out of a financial account. This prohibition does not apply to laws or regulations in effect on October 1, 2021.
FDA Modernization Act of 2021 This bill allows an applicant for market approval for a new drug to use methods other than animal testing to establish the drug's safety and effectiveness. Under this bill, these alternative methods may include cell-based assays, organ chips and microphysiological systems, computer modeling, and other human biology-based test methods.
S 2973 establishes an Inspector General (IG) position specifically for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bill amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to add the NIH Director to the list of agency heads requiring an IG, replacing the National Reconnaissance Office reference. It mandates that the President appoint an IG for the NIH within 180 days of the bill's enactment, following the standard process outlined in the existing Act. This is a procedural bill creating a new oversight role within the NIH, directly affecting the agency's internal accountability structure.
This bill (S 2949) creates a rebuttable presumption that specific geothermal exploration and development activities on federal lands qualify for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), streamlining environmental reviews. It directly affects geothermal developers and federal land managers by exempting qualifying activities - such as converting oil/gas wells to geothermal wells, drilling at existing sites, or placing pipelines in approved corridors - from full NEPA reviews, provided they meet strict conditions (e.g., limited surface disturbance, prior environmental analysis). The bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to define these activities explicitly. This change applies only when developers comply with the specified thresholds and documentation requirements.
Better Enforcement of Grievous Offenses by unNaturalized Emigrants or the BE GONE Act This bill expands, for immigration purposes, the definition of aggravated felony to include sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence. (Under current law, a conviction for an aggravated felony is grounds for deportation and may bar an individual from other immigration-related benefits.)
Great Basin National Heritage Area and Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area Extension Act This bill extends the authority of the Department of the Interior to provide any assistance to the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area in Utah and the Great Basin National Heritage Area (as renamed by this bill) in Utah and Nevada for another 15-year period. The bill renames the Great Basin Heritage Route Partnership as the Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership.
Save Our Forests Act of 2021 This bill directs the Forest Service to fill vacancies in National Forests and Grasslands for Forest Service recreation management and planning staff, including recreation technicians, recreation officers, and natural resource managers. In seeking to fill vacancies, the Forest Service shall prioritize filling vacancies in National Forests and Grasslands that (1) are at high or very high risk of wildfires, and (2) are located in or near the wildland-urban interface. The Forest Service may provide the opportunity for any individual who fills a vacancy to receive training and certification as a Forest Protection Officer.
This resolution requests the President and directs the Department of State to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the adoption of this resolution, copies of both classified and unclassified documents that refer or relate to certain information on the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, including reactions, concerns, or objections expressed by certain allies and partners; any agreement reached with the Taliban related to the evacuation of specified individuals; and numbers of specified individuals in contact with the State Department to request evacuation assistance from Afghanistan, from July 30, 2021, to the present.
