Equal Access to Therapeutics Act This bill prohibits using race or ethnicity as a factor in decisions about an individual's access to COVID-19 treatments (e.g., monoclonal antibody therapies). Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may not adopt any policy or guidance that allows race or ethnicity to be factored into such decisions. Furthermore, the Secretary of HHS shall be personally liable for the death of any individual who is denied access to COVID-19 treatments pursuant to a prohibited policy or guidance. The bill also prohibits hospitals or other health care providers that have policies restricting access to COVID-19 treatments based on race or ethnicity from receiving federal funds.
This resolution expresses support for designating February 6-12, 2022, as "National Burn Awareness Week," organized by the American Burn Association. It aims to raise public awareness about burn prevention - highlighting kitchen safety as the 2022 theme - and encourages government agencies, fire safety organizations, healthcare providers, and the public to participate in related activities. The resolution does not create new laws or funding but formally endorses an existing annual awareness initiative focused on reducing burn injuries, which disproportionately affect children and vulnerable groups. It references statistics on burn injuries and emphasizes the importance of prevention education and survivor support.
HRES 910 is a non-binding resolution expressing support for designating February 4, 2022, as "National Cancer Prevention Day." It does not create new laws or policies but formally recognizes the importance of cancer prevention efforts. The resolution cites cancer statistics (e.g., nearly 1 in 4 U.S. deaths) and emphasizes raising awareness about reducing cancer risks. It has no direct impact on any individuals or groups, as it solely serves to acknowledge ongoing prevention work and the disease's societal impact. This type of resolution is purely symbolic and commemorative.
Close Biden's Open Border Act This bill provides $15 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to construct a border wall along the southern border of the United States. It also imposes a two-year moratorium on funding for U.S. contributions to the United Nations (U.N.). During the two-year period, funds may not be authorized or otherwise made available for contributions to the U.N.
Strengthening Enforcement and Criminalizing Unlawful Records Enabling Flights Act or the SECURE Flights Act This bill prohibits the use of warrants and other documents issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as proof of identification at airport security checkpoints unless the individual is leaving the United States pursuant to immigration laws. If an individual uses prohibited documents as a proof of identification, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) must (1) inform ICE and local law enforcement to determine whether the individual is in violation of any term of release, and (2) collect the individual's biometric information unless the TSA can verify the individual is a U.S. national. The TSA must also submit the biometric information to a national biometric identification system.
Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act This bill repeals the inclusion of any Social Security or tier I railroad retirement benefits in gross income for income tax purposes. The bill also (1) appropriates funds to cover reductions in transfers to the Social Security and Railroad Retirement Trust Funds resulting from the enactment of this bill, and (2) expresses the sense of Congress against using tax increases to provide revenue necessary to carry out this bill.
Keep Schools Open Act This bill generally prohibits federal education funding for elementary or secondary schools, local or state educational agencies, or institutions of higher education (IHEs) that do not provide in-person instruction. Specifically, the bill prohibits a school, educational agency, or IHE from receiving federal education funds unless the school, educational agency, or IHE (1) demonstrates to the Department of Education (ED) that it provides in-person instruction to students, and (2) certifies to ED that it will not discontinue in-person instruction for students due to COVID-19. This prohibition does not apply to a school, educational agency, or IHE that provides distance education or other virtual instruction to students in the regular course of its operations for reasons that are unrelated to COVID-19.
Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2022 or the EARN IT Act of 2022 This bill revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online sexual exploitation of children. The bill establishes the National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention. The commission must develop best practices for interactive computer services providers (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, the bill limits the liability protections of interactive computer service providers with respect to claims alleging violations of child sexual exploitation laws. The bill replaces various statutory references to child pornography and material that contains child pornography with child sexual abuse material . Finally, the bill makes changes to the reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers) who report apparent instances of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Among the changes, the bill requires providers to report facts and circumstances sufficient to identify and locate each minor and each involved individual. The bill also increases the amount of time that providers must preserve the contents of a report.
Stop Arduous Vaccine Enforcement Act of 2022 or the SAVE Act of 2022 This bill prohibits transplant centers from discriminating against an individual on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status for purposes of determining eligibility or assigning priority for organ transplants.
VA Same-Day Scheduling Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that when a veteran enrolled in the VA health care system contacts the VA by telephone to schedule an appointment for care or services at a VA facility, the scheduling for the appointment occurs during that telephone call.
Stop the Nosy Obsession with Online Payments Act of 2022 or the SNOOP Act of 2022 This bill modifies requirements for third party settlement organizations to eliminate their reporting requirement with respect to the transactions of their participating payees unless they have earned more than $20,000 on more than 200 separate transactions in an applicable tax period. A third party settlement organization is the central organization that has the contractual obligation to make payments to participating payees (generally, a merchant or business) in a third party payment network. This reverses a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that lowered the reporting threshold to $600 with no minimum on the number of transactions.
Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop an automated application to track the amount of supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile and in similar inventories maintained by states, tribes, territories, and private entities (e.g., hospitals). Additionally, HHS must (1) provide for an annual exercise to test the effectiveness of the application, and (2) establish a program to assist health care entities in obtaining automated vendor management systems.
