Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act of 2022 This act directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop scenario-based training curricula (or identify existing curricula) that includes topics such as alternatives to the use of force, de-escalation tactics, and safely responding to an individual experiencing a mental, behavioral health, or suicidal crisis. The act also directs DOJ to make grants to states for costs associated with providing the training to law enforcement officers or mental health professionals.
Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Reauthorization Act of 2022 This act expands the allowable use of grants under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. The program provides state, local, and tribal grants to improve the criminal justice system's response to people with mental health disorders. Among the provisions, the act allows funds for diversion and alternative prosecution and sentencing programs to be used for training for state and local prosecutors related to diversion programs; allows funds for multidisciplinary teams to be used to support police officers and mental health crisis workers responding together to mental health calls; and allows grants to be awarded for additional purposes such as suicide prevention programs and services, case management services, and state and local implementation of the 988 suicide hotline. Additionally, the act reauthorizes through FY2027 the requirement for the Department of Justice to examine and report on the prevalence of mentally ill offenders in prisons and jails.
Iran Hostages Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the 53 hostages of the Iran Hostage Crisis (November 4, 1979-January 21, 1981) in recognition of their bravery and endurance throughout their captivity.
21st Century President Act This act revises the definition of immediate family for purposes of a criminal offense involving a threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a former President or a member of the immediate family of a former President. Specifically, it replaces gender-specific references to a former President's wife and widow with the gender-neutral terms spouse and surviving spouse .
This act prescribes that a peer support specialist of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must not be responsible for providing assistance to a veteran regarding a claim for compensation for a covered mental health condition (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) based on military sexual trauma (MST) experienced during active service. Such specialists must only provide counseling services, guidance, and support and must not participate in the adjudication of the claim. As part of the forms for claims for compensation for a covered mental health condition based on MST, the VA must include an option for a veteran to elect to be referred to a MST trauma coordinator at the VA facility closest to the veteran's residence. Additionally, the VA must (1) ensure that its peer support specialists receive annual training on providing peer support regarding MST, and (2) provide annual training on the processing of claims for compensation for covered mental health conditions based on MST to its MST coordinators and peer specialists.
This concurrent resolution makes a correction to the official title of H.R. 4373 (Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2023).
SCONRES 51 is a procedural resolution that corrects errors in the official enrollment (printed text) of H.R. 2617, a bill that provided fiscal year 2023 appropriations and emergency aid for Ukraine. The resolution amends H.R. 2617's title to accurately reflect its purpose and removes specific sections that were mistakenly included in the printed version. This correction ensures the official record matches the intended text of the bill without altering its substantive provisions. As a procedural measure, it does not change the law or its implementation.
Medical Innovation Act of 2022 This bill requires certain drug manufacturers to make payments to fund research supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A drug manufacturer with over $1 billion in net income in a fiscal year that has entered into a relevant settlement agreement regarding specified violations must pay 0.75%-1.5% of its net income to the Department of Health and Human Services for each of its covered blockbuster drugs. A covered blockbuster drug is a drug that has at least $1 billion in net sales in a year and was developed, in whole or in part, through federal investments in medical research. Payments are divided between the FDA and the NIH in proportion to the discretionary funding of those agencies, excluding FDA user fees. Payments are not disbursed if appropriations for the FDA or the NIH are lower than in the prior fiscal year. Priorities for payments must include advancing regulatory science for medical products and research related to diseases that disproportionately account for federal health care spending. A covered blockbuster drug for which a manufacturer has not made a required payment is considered misbranded and subject to prohibitions on introducing or receiving misbranded drugs in interstate commerce.
Bus Rapid Transit Act This bill directs the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to establish a grant program to provide grants to state, local, and tribal governments for the design and implementation of bus rapid transit systems, including for the redesign, retrofit, renovation, update, and repair of existing bus systems. As a condition of receiving a grant, eligible entities must certify that fares for riding the bus rapid transit system shall not increase solely due to improvements carried out with grant funds and for any reason for at least one year after completion of a project funded by the bill. In carrying out the program, the FTA must prioritize projects located in economically disadvantaged communities.
This resolution affirms that there is well-established authority for the Food and Drug Administration to approve, license, and otherwise regulate reproductive health products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act. The resolution also affirms that (1) such federal laws preempt (i.e., supersede conflicting state or local laws) any state or local laws that prohibit or limit access to or use of any reproductive health product, and (2) the Department of Justice has authority to enforce the preemptive effect of such federal laws by suing any state or political subdivision of a state that prohibits or limits access to or use of any reproductive health product.
Refugee Protection Act of 2022 This bill modifies provisions related to asylum seekers and addresses related issues. For example, the bill (1) eliminates the statutory time limit for applying for asylum (currently one year after arriving in the United States), (2) establishes stateless protected status for individuals who are not considered a national by any country under that country’s law, and (3) requires the goal for refugee admissions for any given fiscal year to be no fewer than 125,000.
Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2022 or the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2022 This act reauthorizes through FY2024 (1) the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, and (2) the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.
