PA Bill Number: HB2663
Title: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal.
Description: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES
Last Action Date: Nov 19, 2024
Proposed U.S. House Firearm Legislation
2023-2024 Session2021-2022 Session2019-2020 Session2017-2018 Session2015-2016 Session2013-2014 Session
Title: American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act
Description: American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act
Last Action: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 601.
Last Action Date: November 17, 2014
Title: ALERT Act of 2014
Description: Jobs for America Act - Division I: Ways and Means - Title I: Save American Workers - Save American Workers Act of 2014 - (Sec. 102) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to redefine "full-time employee," for purposes of the mandate requiring employers to provide health care coverage for their employees, as an employee who is employed on average at least 40 hours of service a week (currently, at least 30 hours of service a week). Title II: Hire More Heroes - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 - (Sec. 202) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an employer, for purposes of determining whether such employer is an applicable large employer and thus required to provide health care coverage to its employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to exclude employees who have coverage under a health care program administered by the Department of Defense (DOD), including TRICARE, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Title III: American Research and Competitiveness - American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2014 - (Sec. 302) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for research expenses, to: (1) make the rate of such credit equal to the sum of 20% of so much of the qualified research expenses and payments as exceeds 50% of the expenses and payments for the three preceding taxable years and 20% of the amounts paid to any energy research consortium for energy research; and (2) make such credit, as revised by this Act, permanent. (Sec. 303) Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Title from being entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Title IV: America's Small Business Tax Relief - America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2014 - (Sec. 402) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the expensing allowance for depreciable business property, to make permanent: (1) the increased $500,000 expensing allowance for such property, (2) the increased $2,000,000 threshold amount for such property over which the amount of the expensing allowance is reduced, (3) expensing of computer software, and (4) rules for the expensing of qualified real property (i.e., leasehold improvement, restaurant, and retail improvement property). Allows an inflation adjustment to the dollar amounts of the expensing allowance for taxable years beginning after 2014. Makes air conditioning and heating units eligible for the expensing allowance. Allows an annual inflation adjustment for taxable years beginning after 2014 to the increased expensing amounts. (Sec. 403) Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Title from being entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Title V: S Corporation Permanent Tax Relief - S Corporation Permanent Tax Relief Act of 2014 - (Sec. 502) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the taxation of S corporations, to make permanent: (1) the reduction of the period (from 10 years to 5 years) during which the built-in gains of such corporations are subject to tax, and (2) the rule requiring an adjustment to the basis of a shareholder's stock in an S corporation that makes tax deductible contributions of appreciated property. (Sec. 504) Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Title from being entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Title VI: Bonus Depreciation Modified and Made Permanent - (Sec. 601) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the additional 50% depreciation allowance (bonus depreciation) for qualified property (i.e., property which has a recovery period of 20 years or less and is computer software, water utility property, or qualified leasehold or retail improvement property); (2) make permanent the election to increase the alternative minimum tax credit limitation in lieu of bonus depreciation; and (3) allow an additional depreciation allowance for a tree or vine bearing fruits or nuts, in the taxable year in which the tree or vine is planted or grafted to a plant in the ordinary course of the taxpayer's farming business. (Sec. 602) Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Title from being entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Title VII: Repeal of Medical Device Excise Tax - (Sec. 701) Repeals the excise tax on medical devices. (Sec. 702) Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Title from being entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Division II: Financial Services - Title I: Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation - Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act - (Sec. 102) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to exempt private equity fund investment advisers from statutory registration and reporting requirements, provided that each private equity fund has not borrowed and does not have outstanding a principal amount exceeding twice its invested capital commitments. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promulgate final rules that: (1) require such investment advisers to maintain records the SEC determines necessary may require, taking into account fund size, governance, investment strategy, and risk; and (2) define the term "private equity fund" for purposes of this Act. Title II: Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification - Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2014 - (Sec. 202) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt from its registration requirements certain merger and acquisition brokers and associated persons. Denies such registration exemption, however, to brokers who: (1) receive, hold, transmit, or have custody of any funds or securities to be exchanged by parties to a transfer of ownership of an eligible privately held company; or (2) engage on behalf of an issuer in a public offering of securities that are either subject to mandatory registration, or with respect to which the issuer must file periodic information, documents, and reports. Prohibits this Act from being construed to limit any other authority of the SEC to exempt any person, or any class of persons, from any provision of this Act, including any related rule or regulation. Division III: Oversight - Subdivision A: Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency - Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2014 - (Sec. 103) Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), at the request of Congress, to conduct studies on the costs for state, local, or tribal governments to comply with changes to conditions of federal assistance. (Sec. 105) Expands the scope of reporting requirements related to federal mandates to include regulations imposed by independent regulatory agencies. Excludes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee. (Sec. 106) Amends the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 to require the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) instead of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) provide CBO with data and cost estimates for regulations implementing an Act containing a federal mandate; (2) certify that an agency has considered a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and selected the least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome option that achieves the objectives of a rule; and (3) collect agency statements accompanying regulatory action and forward them to CBO. (Sec. 107) Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to expand the point of order against legislation increasing the costs of federal intergovernmental mandates above the statutory threshold to include private sector mandates. (Sec. 108) Amends the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to establish principles for agencies to use in assessing the effects of federal regulatory actions on state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector. (Sec. 109) Expands the scope of agency statements accompanying significant regulatory actions to require a more detailed analysis of the effect on state, local, or tribal governments or the private sector. (Sec. 110) Revises the process for agency consultations with state, local, and tribal governments about proposed regulations to include private sector input. (Sec. 111) Requires OIRA to provide guidance and oversight so that each agency's regulations are consistent with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, other laws, and policies of other agencies. (Sec. 112) Requires agencies to conduct a retrospective analysis of an existing federal regulation at the request of Congress. (Sec. 113) Expands judicial review to include agency assessments of regulations and selection of the least costly or least burdensome regulatory alternative. Subdivision B: Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency - Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency Act of 2014 or the ALERRT Act of 2014 - Title I: All Economic Regulations Are Transparent Act - All Economic Regulations are Transparent Act of 2014 or the ALERT Act of 2014 - (Sec. 102) Requires the head of each federal agency to submit a monthly report to the Administrator of OIRA for each rule such agency expects to propose or finalize during the following year. Sets forth the required content of such reports, including: (1) a summary of the nature of the rule, (2) the objectives of and legal basis for issuance of the rule, (3) the stage of the rulemaking as of the date of submission, and (4) whether the rule is subject to periodic review as a rule with a significant economic impact. Requires each agency head to submit a monthly report for any rule expected to be finalized during the following year for which the agency has issued a general notice of proposed rulemaking. Requires such reports to include an approximate schedule for completing action on the rule and an estimate of its cost and economic effects. Requires the Administrator to make such monthly reports publicly available on the Internet. Requires the Administrator to publish in the Federal Register, not later than October 1 of each year: (1) information that the Administrator receives from each agency under this Act; (2) the number of rules and a list of each such rule that was proposed by each agency and each rule that was finalized by each agency; (3) the number of agency actions that repealed a rule, reduced the scope or cost of a rule, or accelerated the expiration date of a rule; (4) the total cost of all rules proposed or finalized; and (5) the number of rules for which an estimate of the cost of the rule was not available. Requires the Administrator to make publicly available on the Internet, not later than October 1 of each year: (1) the analysis of the costs or benefits of each proposed or final rule issued by an agency for the previous year, (2) the docket number and regulation identifier number for each such rule, (3) the number of rules reviewed by OMB for the previous year, (4) the number of rules for which a review by the head of an agency was completed, (5) the number of rules submitted to the Comptroller General (GAO), and (6) the number of rules for which a resolution of disapproval was introduced in Congress. Prohibits a rule from taking effect until the information required by this Act is posted on the Internet for not less than six months, unless the agency proposing the rule seeks an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the President determines by executive order that such rule is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement. Makes such requirement effective eight months after enactment of this Act. Title II: Regulatory Accountability Act - Regulatory Accountability Act of 2014 - (Sec. 202) Defines "major rule" and "major guidance," for purposes of this Act, as a rule or guidance that is likely to impose: (1) an annual cost on the economy of $100 million or more, adjusted annually for inflation; (2) a major increase in costs or prices; (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S. enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises; or (4) significant impacts on multiple sectors of the economy. Defines "high-impact rule" as a rule that is likely to have an annual cost on the economy of $1 billion or more, adjusted annually for inflation. Defines "negative-impact on jobs and wages rule" to mean a rule that is likely to reduce employment or wages. (Sec. 203) Revises procedures for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to require a federal agency, in the rulemaking process, to make all preliminary and final factual determinations based on evidence and to consider: (1) the legal authority under which a rule may be proposed, (2) the specific nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with a rule, (3) whether existing rules have created or contributed to the problem the agency may address with a rule and whether such rules may be amended or rescinded, (4) any reasonable alternatives for a new rule, and (5) the potential costs and benefits associated with potential alternative rules. Revises rulemaking notice requirements to require an agency to: (1) publish in the Federal Register advance notice of proposed rulemaking involving a major rule, a high-impact rule, a negative-impact on jobs and wages rule, or a rule that involves a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory mandates; (2) consult with the Administrator of OIRA before issuing a proposed rule and after the issuance of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking; (3) provide interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process; (4) hold a hearing before the adoption of any high-impact rule; (5) expand requirements for the adoption of a final rule, including requiring that the agency adopt a rule only on the basis of the best evidence and at the least cost; and (6) grant any interested person the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule. Requires the Administrator to issue guidelines to promote coordination, simplification, and harmonization of agency rules during the rulemaking process Exempts from such revised procedures rulemaking that concerns monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee. (Sec. 204) Imposes new requirements for issuing any major guidance or guidance that involves a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory mandates. Authorizes the Administrator to issue guidelines for agencies in issuing major guidance or other guidance. (Sec. 205) Provides for electronic access to transcripts of testimony and exhibits and other papers filed in a rulemaking proceeding. Requires the record of decision in a rulemaking proceeding to include information from a hearing under the Information Quality Act or information on a high-impact rule. Requires an agency to grant a petition for a hearing in the case of a major rule, unless the agency reasonably determines that a hearing would not advance consideration of the rule or would unreasonably delay completion of the rulemaking. Exempts from this requirement rulemakings that concern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee. (Sec. 206) Provides that an agency's denial of an Information Quality Act petition, or a failure to grant or deny such petition within 90 days, is reviewable by a court as a final action. Allows immediate judicial review of interim rules issued without compliance with the notice requirements of this Act, other than in cases involving national security interests. (Sec. 207) Revises standards for the scope of judicial review of agency rulemaking to prohibit a court from deferring to an agency's: (1) interpretation of a rule if the agency did not comply with APA requirements, (2) determination of the costs and benefits or other economic or risk assessment if the agency failed to conform to guidelines on such determinations and assessments established by the Administrator, (3) determinations made in the adoption of an interim rule, or (4) guidance. (Sec. 208) Defines "substantial evidence" for purposes of evaluating agency adjudications and for rulemaking under APA as such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion in light of the record considered as a whole, taking into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from the weight of the evidence relied upon by the agency to support its decision. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act - Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2014 - (Sec. 302) Amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) to: (1) revise the definition of "rule" under such Act to exclude a rule pertaining to the protection of the rights of and benefits for veterans or a rule of particular (and not general) applicability relating to rates, wages, and other financial indicators; and (2) define "economic impact" with respect to a proposed or final rule as any direct economic effect on small entities from such rule and any indirect economic effect on small entities that is reasonably foreseeable and that results from such rule. Includes tribal organizations within the definition of "small governmental jurisdictions" for purposes of such Act. (Sec. 304) Requires initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses to: (1) describe alternatives to a proposed rule that minimize any adverse significant economic impact or that maximize the beneficial significant economic impact on small entities, and (2) include revisions or amendments to a land management plan developed by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior under specified Acts. Expands the applicability of RFA to interpretive rules involving internal revenue laws that impose a recordkeeping requirement, without regard to whether such requirement is imposed by statute or regulation. Revises the definition of "small organization" for purposes of RFA. Requires each federal agency to include in its regulatory flexibility agenda a brief description of the sector of the North American Industrial Classification System that is affected by a proposed agency rule that is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Requires a detailed statement in an initial regulatory flexibility analysis to include: (1) an estimate of the additional cumulative economic impact of the proposed rule on small entities, and (2) a description of any disproportionate economic impact on small entities or a specific class of such entities. Requires an agency, in developing an initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis, to provide: (1) a quantifiable or numerical description of the effects of a proposed or final rule and alternatives to such rule, or (2) a more general descriptive statement and a detailed statement explaining why quantification is not practicable or reliable. (Sec. 305) Repeals provisions allowing a waiver or delay of the completion of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis. Requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to issue rules governing federal agency compliance with RFA requirements. Authorizes the Chief Counsel to modify or amend such rules, to intervene in agency adjudication relating to such rules, and to inform an agency of the impact of its rulemaking on small entities. (Sec. 306) Revises requirements for agency notification of the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy prior to the publication of any proposed rule. Requires agencies to provide the Chief Counsel with: (1) all materials prepared or utilized in making the proposed rule, and (2) information on the potential adverse and beneficial economic impacts of the proposed rule on small entities. (Sec. 307) Modifies requirements for the periodic review of agency rules affecting small entities to require publication of a plan for review and placement of such plan on the agency website not later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 308) Provides for judicial review of an agency final rule for compliance with RFA requirements after publication of such rule. (Sec. 309) Amends the federal judicial code to grant exclusive jurisdiction to the U.S. Courts of Appeals to review all final rules promulgated by the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy governing agency compliance with RFA. (Sec. 310) Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy to specify detailed definitions or standards by which a business may be determined to be a small business (size standard) for purposes of all enactments other than the Small Business Act or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (for which only the Administrator is authorized to specify small business size standards). Allows a party seeking judicial review of a rule which that includes a definition or size standard approved by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy to join the Chief Counsel as a party in an action for such review. (Sec. 312) Amends the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to require federal agencies, in developing small entity compliance guides, to solicit input from affected small entities or associations of small entities. (Sec. 313) Requires the Comptroller General, not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, to complete and publish a study that examines whether the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy has the capacity and resources to carry out the duties of Chief Counsel under this Act. Title IV: Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act - Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2014 - (Sec. 402) Defines a "covered civil action" as a civil action seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action relating to a regulatory action that would affect the rights of: (1) private persons other than the person bringing the action; or (2) a state, local, or tribal government. Defines a "covered consent decree" and a "covered settlement agreement" as: (1) a consent decree or settlement agreement entered into in a covered civil action; and (2) any other consent decree or settlement agreement that requires agency action relating to a regulatory action affecting the rights of private persons other than the person bringing the action or a state, local, or tribal government. (Sec. 403) Requires an agency against which a covered civil action is brought to publish the notice of intent to sue and the complaint in a readily accessible manner and to provide interested parties an opportunity to intervene and to conduct settlement negotiations through mediation. Requires an agency seeking to enter a covered consent decree or settlement agreement to publish such decree or agreement in the Federal Register and online not later than 60 days before it is filed with the court. Provides for public comment and public hearings on a proposed decree or agreement. Requires the Attorney General or an agency head, if an agency is litigating a matter independently, to certify to the court that the Attorney General or the agency head approves of any proposed covered consent decree or settlement agreement. Requires each federal agency to submit to Congress an annual report that includes: (1) the number, identity, and content of covered civil actions brought against, and covered consent decrees or settlement agreements entered against or into by, the agency; (2) a description of the statutory basis for each such covered consent decree or settlement agreement; and (3) an award of attorney fees or costs in a civil action resolved by a covered consent decree or settlement agreement. (Sec. 404) Requires a court to grant de novo review to any motion filed by an agency to modify a previously-entered consent decree if the basis of such motion is that the terms of the decree are no longer fully in the public interest due to the agency's obligations to fulfill other duties or due to changed facts and circumstances. (Sec. 405) Makes this Title applicable to: (1) any covered civil action filed on or after the enactment of this Title, and (2) any covered consent decree or settlement agreement proposed to a court on or after the enactment of this Title. Division IV: Judiciary - Title I: Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny - Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2014 - (Sec. 102) States that the purposes of this Act are to: (1) increase accountability for and transparency in the federal regulatory process by requiring Congress to approve all new major regulations, and (2) include in the definition of "major rule" any rule that implements or provides for the imposition or collection of a tax on carbon emissions. Defines "carbon tax" as a fee, levy, or price on: (1) emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions generated by the burning of coal, natural gas, or oil; or (2) coal, natural gas, or oil based on emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions, that would be generated through the fuel's combustion. (Sec. 103) Revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking to require a federal agency promulgating a rule to include in its report to Congress and to the Comptroller General: (1) a classification of the rule as a major or nonmajor rule; (2) a list of other regulatory actions taken by the agency or by any other federal agency that are intended to implement the same statutory provision or regulatory objective, as well as the individual and aggregate economic effects of those actions; and (3) a complete copy of any cost-benefit analysis of a rule, including an analysis of jobs added or lost, differentiating between public and private sector jobs. Requires a joint resolution of approval of major rules to be enacted before such rules may take effect (currently, major rules take effect unless a joint resolution disapproving them is enacted). Provides that if a joint resolution of approval is not enacted by the end of 70 session days or legislative days, as applicable, after the agency proposing the rule submits its report on such rule to Congress, the major rule shall be deemed not to be approved and shall not take effect. Permits a major rule to take effect for one 90-calendar-day period without such approval if the President determines it is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement. Sets forth the congressional approval procedure for major rules and the congressional disapproval procedure for nonmajor rules. Requires the introduction of a joint resolution addressing a report classifying a rule as a major rule within three legislative days in the House of Representative and three session days in the Senate. Prohibits any amendments to such a joint resolution at any stage of the legislative process. Provides for expedited consideration of a joint resolution of approval and requires a vote on such resolution in the Senate within 15 session days after it is reported by the committee to which it was referred, or after such committee has been discharged from further consideration of the resolution. Revises the definition of "major rule" to mean any rule that: (1) has resulted in or is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $50 million or more (currently, $100 million); (2) is made by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and that would have a significant impact on a substantial number of agricultural entities; (3) implements or provides for the imposition or collection of a carbon tax; or (4) is made under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Allows a court to review whether an agency has completed the necessary requirements under this Act for a rule to take effect. Limits the effect of a joint resolution of approval of a major rule. Makes this Act inapplicable to rules that concern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee. (Sec. 104) Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to provide that any congressional approval procedure set forth in this Act affecting budget authority, outlays, or receipts shall be assumed to be effective unless it is not approved in accordance with this Act. (Sec. 105) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report on a study to determine how many rules and major rules were in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act and the total estimated economic cost imposed by all such rules. Title II: Permanent Internet Tax Freedom - Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act - Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access and on multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. Division V: Natural Resources - Subdivision A: Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities - Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act - Title I: Restoring the Commitment to Rural Counties and Schools - (Sec. 103) Directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish at least one Forest Reserve Revenue Area (Revenue Area) within each unit of the National Forest System (NFS) designated for sustainable forest management for the production of national forest materials (the sale of trees, portions of trees, or forest products from NFS lands) and forest reserve revenues. States that the purpose of an Area is to provide a dependable source of 25% payments and economic activity for each beneficiary county containing NFS land that was eligible to receive payments through its state under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. (The U.S. Forest Service historically shares 25% of all timber revenues with rural counties containing National Forest land to compensate them for large amounts of federal land that cannot be taxed locally. Since the 2000 Act, states or counties can choose for those distribution amounts to be based on historic rather than current revenue.) Requires USDA to determine the annual volume requirement (a volume of national forest materials at least 50% of the Revenue Area's sustained yield) for national forest materials from each Revenue Area. Defines "sustained yield" to mean the maximum annual growth potential of the forest calculated on the basis of the culmination of mean annual increment using cubic measurement. Prohibits USDA from reducing the number of acres of NFS land in a Revenue Area once it has been established. (Sec. 104) Instructs USDA to manage Revenue Areas in the manner necessary to achieve their annual volume requirement. Sets forth provisions governing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Specifies procedures for administrative and judicial review of forest projects. Permits USDA to allow use of all-terrain vehicles within Revenue Areas for the purpose of activities associated with the sale of national forest materials. (Sec. 105) Requires forest reserve revenues to be used to make: (1) 25% payments to states for beneficiary counties, and (2) deposits into the Knutson-Vandenburg Fund and the salvage sale fund in contributions equal to the monies collected for those funds for projects conducted on NFS land. (Sec. 106) Sets forth annual reporting requirements related to each Revenue Area. Title II: Healthy Forest Management and Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention - (Sec. 203) Authorizes USDA, with respect to NFS land, and the Department of Interior, with respect to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, to implement a hazardous fuel reduction project (reducing or modifying living and dead vegetation to protect against the risk of wildfires) or forest health project in at-risk forests in a manner that focuses on specific fuels reduction activities. (Sec. 204) Sets forth provisions governing compliance with NEPA. Exempts such a project from judicial review or any federal court injunction if its primary purpose is the salvage of dead, damaged, or down timber resulting from wildfires occurring in 2013 or 2014. (Sec. 205) Allows a state governor to designate high-risk areas of federal land in the state for purposes of addressing: (1) deteriorating forest health conditions due to the bark beetle epidemic or drought, with the resulting imminent risk of devastating wildfires; and (2) the future risk of insect infestations or disease outbreaks through preventative treatments to improve forest health conditions. Prohibits the following federal land from being designated as a high-risk area: (1) a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, (2) federal land on which the removal of vegetation is specifically prohibited by federal statute, and (3) federal land within a National Monument. (Sec. 206) Allows a state to provide for the development of proposed hazardous fuel reduction projects or forest health projects for a designated high-risk area. (Sec. 207) Bars USDA from conducting any prescribed fire (except as part of wildfire suppression activities) in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project until a report is submitted to Congress evaluating management practices for the Forest. Title III: Oregon and California Railroad Grant Lands Trust, Conservation, and Jobs - O&C Trust, Conservation, and Jobs Act - Subtitle A: Trust, Conservation, and Jobs - Chapter 1: Creation and Terms of O&C Trust - (Sec. 311) Establishes the Oregon and California Railroad Grant Lands Trust to produce annual maximum sustained revenues in perpetuity for Trust counties by managing the timber resources on Trust lands. Designates certain land in Oregon as O&C Trust lands. (Sec. 312) Sets forth provisions establishing the legal treatment of O&C Trust lands. (Sec. 313) Authorizes the governor of Oregon to appoint the Board of Trustees for the Oregon and California Railroad Grant Lands Trust to administer the O&C Trust and O&C Trust lands. (Sec. 314) Requires the Board to administer the O&C Trust lands in compliance with all federal and state laws in the same manner as those laws apply to private forest lands. Specifies requirements for timber sale plans, stand rotation, competitive bidding, sale terms, riparian area management, pest and vegetation management, and fire protection. (Sec. 315) Prescribes requirements for calculation and distribution of annual payments made to each O&C Trust county. Directs the Board to generate a reserve fund to: (1) pay management and administrative expenses or capital improvement costs on O&C Trust lands, and (2) make payments to O&C Trust counties when regular payments to them are projected to be 90% or less of the previous year's payments. Directs the Board to use a portion of revenues generated from activity on the O&C Trust lands to establish a O&C Trust Conservation Fund. (Sec. 316) Authorizes the Board to negotiate proposals for land exchanges with owners of lands adjacent to O&C Trust lands. Sets forth criteria for approval of the exchanges. (Sec. 317) Requires the O&C Trust to pay $10 million to the U.S. Treasury for seven years after the transition period. Chapter 2: Transfer of Certain Lands to Forest Service - (Sec. 321) Directs the Department of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain land in Oregon to USDA for inclusion in the NFS. (Sec. 322) Sets forth provisions governing the management of land included in NFS. (Sec. 323) Authorizes USDA to conduct land exchanges involving the land included in NFS. (Sec. 324) Requires USDA to appoint an Old Growth Review Panel to define old growth as it applies to land managed by the O&C trust or included in NFS in western Oregon. Chapter 3: Transition - (Sec. 331) Provides for a three-year transition period and specifies the activities that should occur during the period. (Sec. 332) Establishes the Board's borrowing authority. (Sec. 333) Prescribes requirements for the treatment of existing contracts and the protection of valid existing rights and access to non-federal land. (Sec. 335) Repeals a federal law relating to the Oregon and California Railroad Grant lands and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands. Subtitle B: Coos Bay Wagon Roads - (Sec. 341) Directs Interior to transfer management authority over the reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands, with certain exceptions, and their surface resources to Coos County, Oregon. (Sec. 342) Directs Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands to USDA for inclusion in the NFS. (Sec. 343) Permits Coos County to recommend to USDA and carry out land exchanges. Subtitle C: Oregon Treasures - Chapter 1: Wilderness Areas - (Sec. 351) Designates approximately 30,520 acres of federal land in Oregon as the Devil's Staircase Wilderness for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. (Sec. 352) Adds approximately 58,100 acres of federal land to the Wild Rogue Wilderness, a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Chapter 2: Wild and Scenic River Designated and Related Protections - (Sec. 361) Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate specified segments of the Molalla River in Oregon as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System to be administered by Interior as a recreational river. (Sec. 363) Designates Franklin and Wasson Creeks in Oregon as wild rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. (Sec. 364) Designates specified segments of the Rogue River in Oregon as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. (Sec. 365) Withdraws the federal land within a quarter mile on each side of specified segments of the Rogue River from: (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; or (3) disposition under laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. Chapter 3: Additional Protections - (Sec. 371) Prohibits Interior or USDA from acquiring by condemnation any land or interest within the boundaries of the river segments or wilderness designated by this subtitle. Requires landowner approval before including non-federal property within the boundaries of the river segments or wilderness designated by this subtitle. (Sec. 375) Prohibits any national monument on specified land in Oregon without an Act of Congress. Chapter 4: Effective Date - (Sec. 381) States that the effective date of this subtitle is October 1 of the second fiscal year of the transition period. Subtitle D: Tribal Trust Lands - Part 1: Council Creek Land Conveyance - (Sec. 392) Holds in trust for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians all interest of the United States in and to the approximately 17,519 acres of Council Creek land. Makes that land part of the Tribe's reservation. (Sec. 394) Prohibits the export of unprocessed logs harvested from federal land conveyed to the Tribe. Prohibits gaming on those lands. Part 2: Oregon Coastal Land Conveyance - (Sec. 396) Holds in trust for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to approximately 14,804 acres of specified federal land. Makes that land part of the Tribes' reservation. (Sec. 398) Prohibits the export of unprocessed logs harvested from federal land conveyed to the Tribe. Prohibits gaming on those lands. Title IV: Community Forest Management Demonstration - (Sec. 401) Directs USDA to establish the community forest demonstration program for local, sustainable forest management by counties and local governments. (Sec. 402) Requires USDA to establish a community forest designation area consisting of NFS land. (Sec. 403) Requires a community forest demonstration area for a state to be managed by an advisory committee appointed by the governor. (Sec. 404) Directs an advisory committee to: (1) cooperate and consult with Indian tribes on management policies and practices for the area that may affect those tribes, and (2) consult with any applicable forest collaborative group. Prohibits the export of unprocessed timber harvested from a community demonstration area as a condition on the sale of timber or other forest products from a community demonstration area. (Sec. 405) Allows an advisory committee to retain funds generated from the area that are necessary to fund management, administration, restoration, operation and maintenance, improvement, repair, and related expenses. Requires an advisory committee to distribute funds generated from the area to counties and local governments proportional to the amount of forest land it has. (Sec. 406) Permits counties to use funds received under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to provide initial funding for the management of community forest demonstration areas. (Sec. 407) Requires an advisory committee to make payments to the U.S. Treasury based on revenue generated by management of the forest land. (Sec. 408) Permits an advisory committee to terminate the area by a unanimous vote, subject to approval of the state governor. Title V: Reauthorization and Amendment of Existing Authorities and Other Matters - (Sec. 501) Directs USDA to distribute to each beneficiary county during February 2015 a payment equal to the amount distributed to the county for FY2010 under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. Specifies a formula for making payments. (Sec. 502) Restores the original method for calculating 25% payments (based on the prior year revenue) to counties as compensation for the large amount of forest service land that cannot be taxed rather than using an average of past years. (Sec. 503) Authorizes the USDA for NFS land or Interior for BLM land to enter into a cooperative agreement or contract (including a sole source contract) with a state forester to provide forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration, management, and protection services. (Sec. 504) Prohibits the use of funds made available to a beneficiary county or other political subdivision of a state under this Act to replace state funding sources for local schools, facilities, or educational purposes. (Sec. 505) Defines "fire suppression" to include reforestation, site rehabilitation, salvage operations, and replanting occurring following fire damage on lands under the jurisdiction of USDA or Interior or following fire suppression efforts. (Sec. 506) Bars the Forest Service from removing or otherwise eliminating any legally created road or trail unless there has been a specific decision, which included adequate and appropriate public involvement, to decommission that road or trail. Subdivision B: National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production - National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2014 - Title I: Development of Domestic Sources of Strategic and Critical Minerals - (Sec. 101) Deems a domestic mine that will provide strategic and critical minerals to be an "infrastructure project" as described in Presidential Order "Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects" dated March 22, 2012. (Sec. 102) Sets forth the responsibilities of the lead agency (federal, state, local, tribal, or Alaska Native Corporation) with responsibility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit with respect to project coordination, agency consultation, project proponents, contractors, and the status and scope of any environmental impact statement. Requires the lead agency to determine that any action to approve an exploration or mine permit does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment under NEPA if the procedural and substantive safeguards of the lead agency's permitting process alone, any applicable state permitting process alone, or a combination of the two processes together provide an adequate mechanism to ensure that environmental factors are taken into account. Requires the lead agency's project lead, upon request of a project proponent, to enter into an agreement with the project proponent and other cooperating agencies that sets time limits for each part of the permitting process. Applies this Act to a mineral exploration or mine permit for which an application was submitted before enactment of this Act if the applicant so requests in writing. Requires the lead agency to begin implementing this Act with respect to such application within 30 days after receiving such request. Requires the lead agency, with respect to strategic and critical minerals within a federally administered unit of NFS, to: (1) exempt from federal regulations governing Special Areas all areas of identified mineral resources in Land Use Designations (other than Non-Development Land Use Designations); (2) apply such exemption to all additional routes and areas that the agency finds necessary to facilitate the construction, operation, maintenance, and restoration of the areas of the identified mineral resources; and (3) continue to apply such exemptions after approval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the unit. (Sec. 103) Declares that the priority of the lead agency is to maximize mineral resource development while mitigating environmental impacts, so that more of the mineral resource can be brought to the market place. (Sec. 104) Prescribes the Federal Register notice process for mineral exploration and mining projects. Title II: Judicial Review of Agency Actions Relating to Exploration and Mine Permits - (Sec. 202) Bars a civil action claiming legal wrong caused by an agency action unless it is filed by the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the final federal agency action to which it relates. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the holder of a mineral exploration or mine permit to intervene as of right in any covered civil action by a person affecting rights or obligations of the permit holder under the permit. (Sec. 204) Requires the court to hear and determine any covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. (Sec. 205) Prohibits the court, in a covered civil action, from granting or approving prospective relief unless it finds that it is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct such violation. (Sec. 206) Declares inapplicable to such a civil action specified requirements of the Equal Access to Justice Act relating to award of costs and fees to a prevailing plaintiff. Prohibits payment from the federal government for court costs of a party in such a civil action, including attorneys' fees and expenses. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 301) Prohibits the construction of this Act as affecting any aspect of Secretarial Order 3324, issued by the Secretary of the Interior on December 3, 2012, regarding potash, oil, and gas leasing and development within the Designated Potash Area in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico.
Last Action: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 597.
Last Action Date: November 13, 2014
Title: NRA Members' Gun Safety Act of 2013
Description: NRA Members' Gun Safety Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit a person who is not a licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer from transferring a firearm to, or receiving a firearm from, another unlicensed person, except: (1) through a licensed dealer or a law enforcement agency, which shall conduct a background check through the national instant criminal background check system; and (2) after inspecting a permit that confirms that such background check has been conducted. Specifies exceptions, including for: (1) the transfer of a bona fide gift between immediate family members; (2) a transfer that occurs by operation of law or by an executor or trustee because of the death of another person; (3) a temporary transfer that occurs in the home of the unlicensed transferee who believes that possession of the firearm is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to the transferee; and (4) certain temporary transfers without the transfer of title at a shooting range, at a shooting competition, or while hunting, fishing, or trapping. Sets forth requirements for a licensed dealer or law enforcement agency that assists in such transfer, including requirements to: (1) notify the transferor and transferee of compliance with background check requirements and of the receipt of any notification from the background check system that a transfer is prohibited, and (2) report to the Attorney General on such a transfer and on transfers of two or more pistols and/or revolvers to the same unlicensed transferee during any five consecutive business days. Permits such dealer or law enforcement agency to assess a processing fee. Prohibits a licensed dealer from authorizing an employee to possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition in the course of employment unless such dealer has received a notice that the Attorney General has determined that receipt of a firearm by the employee would not be unlawful. Authorizes the Attorney General to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of a federal firearms and explosives license to any individual if the Attorney General: (1) determines that such individual has been engaged in, or has provided material support or resources for, terrorist activities; and (2) has a reasonable belief that such individual may use a firearm or explosive in connection with terrorism. Allows any individual whose firearm or explosives license application has been denied to bring legal action challenging the denial. Permits the Attorney General to withhold information in firearms and explosives license denial revocation suits that would likely compromise national security. Authorizes the Attorney General to revoke firearms and explosives licenses and permits held by individuals determined to be engaged in terrorism. Requires each person who owns or possesses a firearm to report its theft or loss to the appropriate local authorities within 48 hours after the theft or loss is discovered. Requires each state that allows its residents to carry concealed firearms in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to establish a process through which a resident must obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Requires a state to: (1) ensure that a local law enforcement agency participates in the process; and (2) require an applicant to be a legal U.S. resident of at least 21 years of age, to demonstrate good cause for requesting the permit and that he or she is worthy of the public trust to carry a concealed firearm in public, to complete a firearm safety training course, and to not have been convicted of a crime of violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the conditions for the United States becoming a signatory to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, or to any similar agreement on the arms trade.
Description: Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should not sign the Arms Trade Treaty, and that, if he transmits the Treaty with his signature to the Senate, the Senate should not ratify it; and (2) until the Treaty has been signed by the President, received the advice and consent of the Senate, and has been the subject of implementing legislation by Congress, no federal funds should be appropriated or authorized to implement the Treaty, or any similar agreement, or to conduct activities relevant to the Treaty, or any similar agreement.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: March 13, 2013
Title: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2013
Description: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements. Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.Prohibits: (1) transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions; (2) a licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act; (3) failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours; (4) failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days; or (5) keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse, (2) conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries, and (3) collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer. Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Safe Schools Act of 2013
Description: Safe Schools Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to repeal provisions making it unlawful to possess or discharge a firearm in a school zone.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the President is prohibited under the Constitution from initiating war against Syria without express congressional authorization and the appropriation of funds for the express purpose of waging such a war.
Description: Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President is prohibited under the Constitution from the offensive use of the U.S. Armed Forces in Syria without prior express authorization by an Act of Congress or without a prior express appropriation of funds for that purpose by an Act of Congress; and (2) the President's defiance of those constitutional limitations on his authority to initiate war would constitute an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that active duty military personnel who are stationed or residing in the District of Columbia should be permitted to exercise fully their rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Description: Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that active-duty military personnel stationed or residing in the District of Columbia should be permitted to fully exercise their rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution and be exempt from the District's restrictions on the possession of firearms.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: January 22, 2013
Title: Honoring the life of Trayvon Martin, urging the repeal of Stand Your Ground laws, and calling on the United States Government to address the crisis of racial profiling.
Description: Condemns unfounded reliance on Stand Your Ground laws to protect actions that extend far beyond historical use of self-defense. Urges state legislatures to reject or repeal Stand Your Ground legislation. Commits to developing incentives for states to find alternatives to such legislation, such as grants for community policing. Encourages states to create penalties for individuals found to have caused substantive harm through racial profiling. Urges the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to seek to elevate the social status of black males by undertaking studies to understand and correct the underlying causes of higher rates of school expulsions and suspensions, homicides, incarceration, poverty, violence, and drug abuse, as well as income, health, and educational disparities.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Last Action Date: February 5, 2013
Title: War Powers Amendments of 2013
Description: War Powers Amendments of 2013 - Rewrites the War Powers Resolution. Includes consultation procedures concerning participation of U.S. Armed Forces in certain military operations of the United Nations (U.N.). Provides additional conditions on the emergency use of the Armed Forces.
Last Action: Referred to House Rules
Last Action Date: September 11, 2013
Title: Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2013
Description: Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to: (1) raise the age of handgun eligibility to 21 (currently, 18); and (2) prohibit persons under age 21 from possessing semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity ammunition feeding devices, with exceptions. Increases penalties for: (1) a second or subsequent violation by a juvenile of Brady Act provisions or for a first violation committed after an adjudication of delinquency or after a state or federal conviction for an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a serious violent felony; and (2) transferring a handgun, ammunition, semiautomatic assault weapon, or large capacity ammunition feeding device to a person who is under age 21, knowing or having reasonable cause to know that such person intended to use it in the commission of a crime of violence. Prohibits any licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer from transferring a firearm to any person (other than a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer) unless the transferee is provided with a secure gun storage or safety device. Authorizes the Attorney General to suspend or revoke any firearms license, or to subject the licensee to a civil penalty of up to $10,000, if the licensee has knowingly violated this prohibition. Prohibits keeping a loaded firearm or an unloaded firearm and ammunition within any premises knowing or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child: (1) is capable of gaining access to it, and (2) will use the firearm to cause death or serious bodily injury. Requires the parent or legal guardian of a child to ensure that a child attending a gun show is accompanied by an adult. Authorizes the Attorney General to provide grants to enable local law enforcement agencies to develop and sponsor gun safety classes for parents and children. Expresses the sense of Congress that each school district should provide or participate in a firearms safety program for students.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Border Security, Cooperation, and Act Now Drug War Prevention Act of 2013
Description: Border Security, Cooperation, and Act Now Drug War Prevention Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Attorney General to provide to a state on a U.S. border up to 500 additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents to patrol and defend the border, combat drug trafficking, and combat smuggling of firearms, explosives, alcohol, and tobacco if the state's governor declares an international border security emergency and requests such agents. Directs the Secretary to: (1) increase the number of U.S. Border Patrol helicopters and power boats; (2) establish a fleet of motor vehicles appropriate for use by the Border Patrol; (3) equip such motor vehicles with portable computers with access to law enforcement databases; (4) augment existing radio communication systems in areas in which the Border Patrol operates; and (5) provide Border Patrol agents with global positioning system devices, night vision equipment, high-quality body armor, reliable and effective weapons, and uniforms. Establishes the ATF, DEA, and Border Patrol Task Force to monitor and report to Congress and the President on the trade and sale of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives along U.S. borders. Authorizes the Attorney General to make border security grants to sheriffs' offices and police departments in counties within 25 miles of the southern U.S. border.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.
Last Action Date: February 12, 2013
Title: Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015
Description: Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish within the Empowering Insular Communities activity a team of technical, policy, and financial experts to: (1) develop an energy action plan addressing the energy needs of each of the insular areas (American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) and Freely Associated States (the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau); and (2) assist each of the insular areas and Freely Associated States in implementing the plan. Requires such plan to include: (1) recommendations to reduce reliance and expenditures on fuel shipped to the insular areas and Freely Associated States from ports outside the United States, to develop and utilize domestic fuel energy sources, and to improve performance of energy infrastructure and overall energy efficiency; (2) a schedule for implementation of the recommendations and identification and prioritization of specific projects; (3) a financial and engineering plan for implementing and sustaining projects; and (4) benchmarks for measuring progress toward implementation. Establishes reporting requirements. Prohibits the plan from being implemented until the Secretary approves the energy action plan. Extends the federal immigration law transition period for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands through December 31, 2019, including the annual reduction of nonimmigrant workers who may be admitted during such period.
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-235.
Last Action Date: December 16, 2014
Title: Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act
Description: Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act - Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for: (1) anyone whose federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, or whose license renewal application has been denied, to transfer business inventory firearms into a personal collection or to an employee of such person or to receive a firearm that was a business inventory firearm as of the date of a revocation or renewal denial notice; and (2) anyone who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice to transfer to any other person a firearm that was a business inventory firearm. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of not more than one year (five years for willful violations) for violations of this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Expressing support for designation of June 21 as National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day to promote children's health and gun safety.
Description: Expresses support for the designation of National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day to encourage parents to begin asking the question, "Is there an unlocked gun in your house?" before their child visits other homes and for the goals and ideals of such day.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: June 20, 2014
Title: Expressing the sense of Congress relating to extending the interim agreement with the Government of Iran regarding its nuclear program.
Description: Urges the President, the Secretary of State, and world leaders to: (1) express support for the universal rights and freedoms of the people of Iran; and (2) prevent Iran's support for terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: July 23, 2014
Title: Handgun Licensing and Registration Act of 2013
Description: Handgun Licensing and Registration Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to direct the Attorney General to establish a federal system for the licensing and registration of all handguns in the United States, including a method for easily retrieving information sufficient to identify each resident of a state who owns, possesses, or controls a handgun and each such handgun. Prohibits the ownership, possession, or control of a handgun in a state by a person who: (1) is not licensed under such system; and (2) has not registered the handgun with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency. Provides for a fine and/or imprisonment not less than 15 years for violations. Prohibits the court from suspending a sentence of imprisonment or imposing a probationary sentence for anyone who knowingly violates such prohibition. Exempts states the Attorney General certifies have in effect such a licensing and registration system that imposes criminal penalties on anyone who owns, possesses, or controls a handgun and who: (1) has not completed training in firearms safety; (2) is not licensed by the state to possess a handgun; or (3) has not registered the handgun with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Authorization for Use of Military Force Against ISIL Resolution
Description: Authorization for Use of Military Force Against ISIL Resolution - Expresses the sense of Congress that: the President has rightly committed limited forces in Iraq to protect U.S. diplomatic and military personnel against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); the President should be commended for authorizing military operations to protect ethnic and religious minorities from ISIL and for providing assistance to prevent a humanitarian disaster; the President should be commended for working with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to form a coordinated response to ISIL; the President should seek United Nations (U.N.) Security Council consensus prior to pursuing a multilateral military campaign against ISIL, and should endeavor to form a broad coalition of allies, including members of the Arab League; and a negotiated political solution among ethnic groups is the only sure solution to end sectarian violence and reach permanent peace. Authorizes the President to use the Armed Forces to: defend U.S. national security against ISIL, and enforce a Security Council resolution adopted on or after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution that provides for multilateral action against ISIL and authorizes a coalition military force under Security Council auspices to degrade ISIL's capacities to commit terrorist acts and destabilize peaceful governments. Authorizes the President, in the absence of a requested Security Council resolution, to use the Armed Forces to defend U.S. national security against ISIL, other than in direct ground combat operations, upon a certification to Congress and enactment of a joint resolution. Requires expedited congressional consideration of such a joint resolution. Directs the President to report to Congress at least every 60 days on matters relevant to this joint resolution. States that: the authorization to use military force under this joint resolution is intended to constitute specific authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution, nothing in this joint resolution is intended to limit the President's authority to use military force in self-defense pursuant to the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, and this joint resolution (with a specified exception) shall expire two years after its enactment.
Last Action: Referred to House Rules
Last Action Date: September 19, 2014
Title: Citizens Protection Act of 2013
Description: Citizens Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to repeal provisions making it unlawful to possess or discharge a firearm in a school zone.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013
Description: Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013 - Amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NICS Act) to modify the periods during which penalties are applicable to states that do not make certain records pertaining to firearms eligibility electronically available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICBCS). Repeals provisions authorizing the Attorney General to waive certain penalties if a state provides substantial evidence that it is making a reasonable effort to provide such records. Directs the Attorney General to publish, and make available on a publicly accessible website, an annual report that ranks states by the ratio of number of records submitted by each state to the estimated total number of available records of the state. Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to: (1) require the head of each federal agency to submit to the Attorney General, biannually, a written certification indicating whether the agency has provided pertinent information contained in any agency record demonstrating that a person falls within a category of persons prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law; and (2) include a federal court as a federal department or agency, and require the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to perform the functions of a department or agency head, for purposes of such Act. Amends the federal criminal code to define the terms "adjudicated as a mental defective" and "committed to a mental institution" for purposes of federal firearms provisions. Prohibits an individual so adjudicated before the effective date of this Act from applying for relief from disability under the NICS Act on the basis that the individual does not meet the requirements under such definition. Prohibits a person who is not a licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer from transferring a firearm to, or receiving a firearm from, another unlicensed person, except: (1) through a licensed dealer, which shall conduct a background check through the NICBCS; and (2) after inspecting a permit that confirms that such background check has been conducted. Specifies exceptions, including for: (1) the transfer of a bona fide gift between immediate family members; (2) a transfer that occurs by operation of law or by an executor or trustee because of the death of another person; (3) a temporary transfer that occurs in the home of the unlicensed transferee who believes that possession of the firearm is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to the transferee; and (4) certain temporary transfers without the transfer of title at a shooting range, at a shooting competition, or while hunting, fishing, or trapping. Prohibits an unlicensed transferee from receiving a firearm from an unlicensed transferor if the licensed dealer through which the transfer is made receives a notification from the NICBCS that the transfer is prohibited. Sets forth requirements for a licensed dealer that assists in such transfer, including requirements to: (1) notify the transferor and transferee of compliance with background check requirements and of the receipt of any notification from the NICBCS that a transfer is prohibited, and (2) report to the Attorney General on such a transfer and on transfers of two or more pistols and/or revolvers to the same unlicensed transferee during any five consecutive business days. Permits such dealer to assess a processing fee.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act
Description: Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit: (1) the transfer or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, except for such a device lawfully possessed within the United States on or before the date of this Act's enactment; and (2) the importation or bringing into the United States of such a device. Exempts: (1) the transfer or possession of such a device by a federal, state, or local agency or law enforcement officer; (2) certain transfers to licensees under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; (3) possession of such a device transferred to an individual upon retirement from a law enforcement agency if such individual is not otherwise prohibited from receiving ammunition; and (4) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of such a device by a licensed manufacturer or importer for authorized testing or experimentation purposes. Sets penalties for violations. Requires a large capacity ammunition feeding device manufactured after this Act's enactment to be identified by a serial number that clearly shows that the device was manufactured after such enactment.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2013
Description: Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person to operate a gun show unless such person: (1) has attained 21 years of age; (2) is not prohibited from transporting, shipping, or receiving firearms and has not violated any federal firearms requirements; (3) has registered with the Attorney General as a gun show operator and has provided a photograph and fingerprints; (4) has not concealed material information nor made false statements in connection with a gun show operator registration; and (5) notifies the Attorney General of the date, time, and duration of a gun show not later than 30 days before the commencement of such show and verifies the identity of each vendor at the gun show.Imposes recordkeeping requirements on gun show operators and criminal penalties for failure to register as a gun show operator and maintain required records.Grants the Attorney General authority to enter the business premises of any gun show operator, without a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant, to examine records and inventory to determine compliance with this Act. Increases criminal penalties for serious recordkeeping violations and violations of criminal background check requirements. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to hire additional investigators to carry out inspections of gun shows.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2013
Description: Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to require the licensing of ammunition dealers. Prohibits any person except a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer from: (1) selling ammunition, with an exception for a sale of ammunition to a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer; or (2) engaging in the business of importing or manufacturing ammunition, or in the course of such business, from shipping, transporting, or receiving ammunition. Prohibits a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer from: (1) transferring ammunition to a person without verifying the person's identity by examining a valid identification document containing a photograph of such person; or (2) selling or delivering any ammunition (currently, any armor-piercing ammunition) to any person unless the licensee notes in his records the person's name, age, and place of residence, if the person is an individual, or the person's identity and principal and local places of business, if the person is a business entity. Applies prohibitions applicable to the shipping or transport of firearms, and record-keeping requirements applicable to the importation, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms, to ammunition. Requires each licensee to: (1) prepare a report of multiple sales or other dispositions whenever the licensee sells or otherwise disposes of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to an unlicensed person at one time or during any five consecutive business days; and (2) forward such report to the specified office and to the department of state police, the state law enforcement agency, or the local law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction in which the sale took place by the close of business on the day the multiple sale occurs.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Transportation Security Administration should delay implementation of changes to the Prohibited Items List that do not enhance the protection of passengers, and for other purposes.
Description: Disapproves of the decision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to modify the Prohibited Items List, set to take effect on April 25, 2013, that would allow passengers to bring small knives in their carry-on baggage. Calls for TSA to delay implementation of those changes until it conducts a formal engagement process involving all affected stakeholders and has meaningful consultations with affected air travel industry stakeholders, including flight attendants.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Last Action Date: April 12, 2013
Title: Crackdown on Deadbeat Gun Dealers Act of 2013
Description: Crackdown on Deadbeat Gun Dealers Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General to inspect or examine the inventory and records of a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms to ensure compliance with recordkeeping requirements not more that three times a year (currently, not more than once a year) without reasonable cause and a warrant. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to hire at least 50 additional personnel to carry out the additional inspections. Increases to five years the term of imprisonment for knowingly making a false statement or representation in required firearms records. Authorizes up to 10 years' imprisonment for: (1) providing false statements or identification related to the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition, or (2) selling or otherwise disposing of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person is prohibited from possessing a firearm. Authorizes the Attorney General to suspend a firearms license or subject a licensee to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for willfully violating firearms requirements or failing to have secure storage or safety devices available at any place firearms are sold to non-licensees (current law authorizes only license revocation). Permits a licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector who is indicted for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to continue to operate under the license until the date of any conviction pursuant to the indictment (currently, until any conviction pursuant to the indictment becomes final).
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act
Description: Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act - Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for: (1) anyone whose federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, or whose license renewal application has been denied, to transfer business inventory firearms into a personal collection or to an employee of such person or to receive a firearm that was a business inventory firearm as of the date of a revocation or renewal denial notice; and (2) anyone who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice to transfer to any other person a firearm that was a business inventory firearm. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of not more than one year (five years for willful violations) for violations of this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 25, 2013
Title: Providing for the consideration of the bill (H.B. 1565) to protect Second Amendment rights, ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and provide a responsible and consistent background check process.
Description: Sets forth the rule for consideration of H.B. 1565, entitled the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.
Last Action Date: June 12, 2013
Title: Expressing disapproval over the gun violence plaguing America's communities, and calling on the Congress to enact comprehensive gun reforms that reduce gun violence.
Description: Expresses support for the President's Plan to Reduce Gun Violence. Urges: (1) Congress to enact legislation based on the President's recommendations to reduce gun violence, (2) state legislatures to reject proposed stand-your-ground legislation, and (3) states to repeal enacted stand-your-ground laws. Condemns: (1) gun violence, (2) relevant parties for their roles in obstructing the ability of communities to be safe from gun violence and in proposing stand-your-ground legislation and similar legislation that compromises public safety and the integrity of the prosecutorial system, and (3) all efforts to weaken gun laws and proposals that stand in the way of comprehensive gun law reform.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: Firearm Safety and Public Health Research Act of 2013
Description: Firearm Safety and Public Health Research Act of 2013 - Makes prohibitions under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, against the use of funds to advocate or promote gun control inapplicable to amounts made available by the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013, insofar as such prohibitions relate to any activity to conduct research on firearms safety or gun violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Last Action Date: January 18, 2013
Title: Strengthening Background Checks Act of 2013
Description: Strengthening Background Checks Act of 2013 - Amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to require each state, for each fiscal year after a two-year period after this Act's enactment, to have in effect laws and policies that require it to: (1) provide to the Attorney General not less than 90% of the records relevant to a determination of whether a person is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm that are required to be provided under such Act for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; and (2) provide such records to the Attorney General in the same manner, or in a manner substantially similar to, that in which such records are required to be provided by the state under such Act. Directs the Attorney General to withhold 10% of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds that would otherwise be allocated to the state if the state fails to comply with such requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General to waive such withholding for a state: (1) for one year if the state provides substantial evidence that it is making a reasonable effort to comply; and (2) for additional one-year periods if the state provides substantial evidence that it is making a reasonable effort to comply and if the Attorney General withholds 5% of the amount that would otherwise be allocated to a state for each one-year period. Authorizes appropriations for FY2012-FY2015 for grants under such Act to states and Indian tribal governments to establish or upgrade information and identification technologies for firearms eligibility determinations. Appropriates such authorized amount for the first fiscal year beginning after enactment of this Act and cancels a corresponding amount of the unobligated balances available under the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act
Description: Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act - Prohibits a court from dismissing an action against a manufacturer, seller, or trade association for damages or relief resulting from an alleged defect or negligence with respect to a product, or conduct that would be actionable under state common or statutory law in the absence of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, on the basis that the action is for damages or relief from the criminal, unlawful, or volitional use of a qualified product. Makes the contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) subject to subpoena or other discovery and admissible as evidence. Permits such contents to be used, relied on, or disclosed, and permits testimony or other evidence to be based on the data, on the same basis as other information in a civil action in any state or federal court or in an administrative proceeding.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Last Action Date: January 22, 2013
Title: Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act
Description: Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act - Amends the federal criminal code to provide for an additional sentence of two years' imprisonment for violating the prohibitions against making false statements or misrepresenting identification regarding the acquisition of a firearm or ammunition: (1) knowing that the violation will further the transfer of two or more firearms to a person prohibited by law from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm; and (2) with the intent to conceal such person's identity from the transferor. Prohibits the court from: (1) placing any person convicted of such violation on probation; and (2) reducing a term of imprisonment for such a violation so as to compensate for, or otherwise take into account, a term of imprisonment imposed or to be imposed for a separate such violation. Prohibits a term of imprisonment imposed under this Act from running concurrently with a term imposed on the person under any other legal provision, except that a term imposed may, in the court's discretion, run concurrently with another term imposed by the court at the same time for a separate such violation, subject to applicable guidelines and policy statements issued by the United States Sentencing Commission. Requires the court to specify in its statement of the reasons for imposing a sentence for such a violation the factors that require any sentence below the statutory minimum. Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations requiring any form required to be completed by the purchaser of a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer to include a notice of the provisions of this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Trafficking Reduction And Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act
Description: Trafficking Reduction and Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate regulations that require each firearm manufactured in the United States to be marked with a serial number that is located inside the firearm's receiver or that is visible only in infrared light, in addition to the serial number mark otherwise required. Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) prohibit national instant criminal background check system records about a prospective firearm transferee from being destroyed until after 180 days after the system assigns and provides a firearms licensee with a unique identification number for the transfer, and (2) repeal provisions prohibiting appropriated funds from being used for any system that does not require the destruction of any identifying information submitted for a transferee within 24 hours after the system advises a licensee that the transferee's receipt of a firearm is not prohibited. Requires each licensed firearms dealer to conduct a physical check of its firearms business inventory. Amends the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, to repeal prohibitions against using appropriated funds to: (1) promulgate or implement any rule requiring a physical inventory of any firearms business; or (2) disclose contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) or any information required to be kept by firearms licensees except as specified in that Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Gun Transparency and Accountability (Gun TRAC) Act of 2013
Description: Gun Transparency and Accountability (Gun TRAC) Act of 2013 - Declares that the contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) shall not be immune from legal process, shall be subject to subpoena or other discovery, shall be admissible as evidence, and may be used, relied on, or disclosed on the same basis as other information in a civil action in any state or federal court or in an administrative proceeding. Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) prohibit national instant criminal background check system records from being destroyed until after 90 days after the system assigns and provides a firearms licensee with a unique identification number for the transfer, (2) set forth penalties for the willful violation of an inventory reporting order by a firearms licensee, and (3) prohibit the Attorney General from accepting an application for a federal firearms license from a person whose license has been revoked. Amends the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, to repeal provisions that prohibit appropriated funds from being used: (1) for any background check system that does not require the destruction of any identifying information submitted for a transferee within 24 hours after the system advises a licensee that the transferee's receipt of a firearm is not prohibited; or (2) to promulgate or implement any rule requiring a physical inventory of any firearms business.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Assault Weapons Ban of 2013
Description: Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to ban the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon, including: a semiautomatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a pistol grip; (2) a forward grip; (3) a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; (4) a grenade or rocket launcher; (5) a barrel shroud; or (6) a threaded barrel; a semiautomatic rife or pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; a semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine and has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a threaded barrel, (2) a second pistol grip, (3) a barrel shroud; (4) the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip, or (5) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; a semiautomatic shotgun that has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; (2) a pistol grip; (3) a fixed magazine that can accept more than five rounds; (4) the ability to accept a detachable magazine; (5) a forward grip; or (6) a grenade or rocket launcher; a shotgun with a revolving cylinder; firearms that are specifically listed as prohibited by this Act and copies, duplicates, variants, or altered facsimiles with the capability of any such weapon; all belt-fed semiautomatic firearms; any combination of parts from which any such prohibited firearm can be assembled; and the frame or receiver of a prohibited rifle or shotgun. Excludes from such ban any semiautomatic assault weapon that: (1) is lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of this Act (grandfathered weapon); (2) is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action; (3) has been rendered permanently inoperable; (4) is an antique firearm; or (5) is used for law enforcement or security purposes or for testing or experimentation authorized by the Attorney General. Identifies, by make and model, firearms that are specifically exempted from the ban imposed by this Act. Requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain a record of the make, model, and date of manufacture of any semiautomatic assault weapon which the Attorney General is made aware has been used in relation to a crime under federal or state law. Makes it unlawful to: (1) import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a large capacity ammunition feeding device (generally, a device that can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition); or (2) store or keep any grandfathered semiautomatic weapon that may become accessible by an individual who is prohibited from receiving or possessing such a weapon. Requires identification markings (i.e., serial number and the date of manufacture) on semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices. Provides for the seizure and forfeiture of prohibited large capacity ammunition feeding devices. Makes it unlawful for an unlicensed individual to transfer a grandfathered semiautomatic weapon to another unlicensed individual, unless a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer: (1) has first taken custody of the weapon for the purpose of complying with existing background check requirements; and (2) upon taking custody, complies with all firearms requirements as if the licensee were transferring the weapon from the licensee's inventory to the unlicensed transferee. Sets forth exceptions. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow the use of Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to pay compensation to individuals who surrender semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices under a buy-back program.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: To provide an amnesty period during which veterans and their family members can register certain firearms in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, and for other purposes.
Description: Veterans' Heritage Firearms Act of 2013 - Provides a 90-day amnesty period during which veterans and their family members can register in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record any firearm acquired before October 31, 1968, by a veteran while a member of the Armed Forces stationed outside the continental United States. Grants such an individual limited immunity under the federal criminal code and the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the acquisition, possession, transportation, or alteration of such firearm before or concurrent with such registration. Extends such immunity to a veteran who attempts to register a qualifying firearm outside of the amnesty period if the veteran surrenders the firearm within 30 days after being notified of potential criminal liability for continued possession. Requires the Attorney General to provide clear notice of, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out an outreach program and develop a communications strategy to provide veterans information regarding, the amnesty and registration period. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) transfer each firearm qualifying as a curio or relic which has been forfeited to the United States to the first qualified museum that requests it, and (2) publish information identifying each such firearm which is available to be transferred to a museum. Prohibits the Attorney General from destroying any such firearm which has been forfeited until five years after the forfeiture. Requires that any firearm transferred to a qualified museum be registered to the transferee. Makes a prohibition against transfer or possession of a machine-gun inapplicable to a transfer to or by, or possession by, a museum which is open to the public and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under applicable state law.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Gun Trafficking Prevention Act of 2013
Description: Gun Trafficking Prevention Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any person, in of affecting interstate commerce: (1) from purchasing, attempting to purchase, or transferring a firearm, with intent to deliver the firearm to another person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is prohibited from possessing a firearm; (2) in purchasing, attempting to purchase, or transferring a firearm, from intentionally providing false or misleading material information on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) firearms transaction record form; or (3) knowingly directing, promoting, facilitating, or conspiring to commit such a violation. Authorizes an enhanced penalty for someone who organizes or supervises such conduct. Makes exceptions for a firearm that is lawfully acquired: (1) to be given to another person not prohibited from possessing it under federal or state law as a gift; or (2) by a court-appointed trustee, receiver, or conservator on behalf of an estate or creditor, to carry out a bequest, or in an acquisition by intestate succession. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of offenses under this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that gun violence is a public health issue and Congress should enact by the end of the 113th Congress comprehensive Federal legislation that protects the Second Amendment and keeps communities safe and healthy, including expanding enforceable background checks for all commercial gun sales, improving the mental health system in the United States, and making gun trafficking and straw purchasing a Federal crime.
Description: Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) gun violence is a public health issue; and (2) Congress should enact, by the end of the 113th Congress, comprehensive legislation that protects the Second Amendment and keeps communities safe and healthy, including by expanding enforceable background checks for all commercial gun sales, improving the mental health system, and making gun trafficking and straw purchasing a federal crime.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: March 20, 2014
Title: PLEA Act
Description: Protect Law Enforcement Armor Act or the PLEA Act - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) expand the definition of "armor piercing ammunition" to include a projectile that may be used in a handgun and that is determined by the Attorney General to be capable of penetrating body armor; and (2) require the Attorney General to promulgate standards for the uniform testing of projectiles against the Body Armor Exemplar (body armor that the Attorney General determines meets minimum standards for the protection of law enforcement officers), taking into account variations in performance related to the type of handgun used, the length of the barrel, the amount and kind of powder used to propel the projectile, and the projectile's design. Prohibits the manufacture, sale, possession, or transfer of the Fabrique Nationale Herstal Five-seveN Pistol, 5.7 x 28mm SS190, SS192, SS195LF, SS196, or SS197 cartridges, or any other handgun that uses armor piercing ammunition, except: (1) where manufactured and sold exclusively to U.S. military, law enforcement, or intelligence agencies; and (2) by a licensed manufacturer or contractor for the purpose of examining and testing to determine whether such prohibition applies.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: February 28, 2013
Title: Second Amendment Protection Act of 2013
Description: Second Amendment Protection Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should not adopt any treaty that poses a threat to national sovereignty or abridges the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as the right to bear arms, and should cease the provision of financial support to any entity that does so. Prohibits the United States from providing any funding to the United Nations (U.N.) for a fiscal year unless the President certifies to Congress that the U.N. has not taken action to infringe on the rights of individuals in the United States to possess a firearm or ammunition, or abridge any of the other constitutionally protected rights of U.S. citizens.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: February 6, 2013
Title: Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act
Description: Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act - Prohibits, in any case arising out of the administration of laws and benefits by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), considering any person who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness from being considered adjudicated as a mental defective for purposes of the right to receive or transport firearms without the order or finding of a judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
Last Action Date: February 15, 2013
Title: Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act
Description: Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act - Prohibits, in any case arising out of the administration of laws and benefits by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), any person who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness from being considered adjudicated as a mental defective for purposes of the right to receive or transport firearms without the order or finding of a judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.
Last Action: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 114.
Last Action Date: July 19, 2013
Title: Condemning the senseless rampage and mass shooting that took place in Isla Vista, California, on Friday, May 23, 2014.
Description: Condemns the mass shooting in Isla Vista, California, on May 23, 2014. Offers condolences to the Isla Vista and University of California, Santa Barbara, communities. Encourages a dialogue on all aspects of this tragedy. Honors the dedicated service of the law enforcement and emergency personnel who responded to, and who continue to investigate, the attack. Expresses a commitment to preventing such tragedies from happening again.
Last Action: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5201)
Last Action Date: June 10, 2014
Title: Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act
Description: Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act - Amends the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, to repeal prohibitions on using appropriated funds: (1) to disclose contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) or any information required to be kept by firearms dealers except as specified in such Act; (2) to promulgate or implement any rule requiring a physical inventory of any firearms business; or (3) for any background check system that does not require the destruction of identifying information submitted for a transferee within 24 hours after the system advises a federal firearms licensee that the transferee's receipt of a firearm is not prohibited.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 15, 2013
Title: Calling on the Department of Defense to expedite the delivery of all necessary military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and other needed materials to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to successfully combat and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
Description: Calls on the Department of Defense (DOD) to expedite the direct delivery of all necessary military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and other needed materials to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to successfully combat and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: September 9, 2014
Title: Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2013
Description: Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to grant the Attorney General the authority to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of a federal firearms and explosives license to any individual if the Attorney General: (1) determines that such individual has been engaged in or has provided material support or resources for terrorist activities, and (2) has a reasonable belief that such individual may use a firearm or explosive in connection with terrorism. Allows any individual whose firearm or explosives license application has been denied to bring legal action challenging the denial. Prohibits the sale or distribution of firearms or explosives to any individual whom the Attorney General has determined to be engaged in terrorist activities. Permits the Attorney General to withhold information in firearms and explosives license denial revocation suits if the Attorney General determines that the disclosure of such information would likely compromise national security. Authorizes the Attorney General to revoke firearms and explosives licenses and permits held by individuals determined to be engaged in terrorism.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: Detectives Nemorin and Andrews Anti-Gun Trafficking Act of 2013
Description: Detectives Nemorin and Andrews Anti-Gun Trafficking Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) impose a fine and/or prison term of up to 20 years for the sale, transfer, or barter of a stolen firearm or a firearm with an altered serial number or for the sale of such firearms to persons prohibited from possessing them; (2) impose an additional five-year prison term for possession of a stolen or altered firearm during the commission of a felony; (3) require licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, or dealers to contact the national instant stolen gun check system before receiving firearms from any unlicensed person; and (4) increase criminal penalties for the use of a stolen or altered firearm during the commission of a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. Amends the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act to: (1) include illegal gun trafficking in Department of Justice (DOJ) programs to combat violations of federal firearms laws, and (2) authorize appropriations for FY2013 to hire additional assistant U.S. attorneys. Directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to make the National Crime Information Center Gun File available to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to complete crime gun traces. Requires the ATF to: (1) notify law enforcement agencies of information relating to stolen firearms, and (2) return stolen firearms to persons who reported them as stolen. Requires the Attorney General to establish a national instant stolen gun check system.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that mandates imposed on manufacturers requiring inclusion of unproven and unreliable technology in firearms is costly and punitive, and the prohibition of firearms without such features is an infringement on the rights of citizens under the Second Amendment.
Description: Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) mandates imposed on manufacturers requiring inclusion of unproven and unreliable technology in firearms is costly and punitive, and (2) the prohibition of firearms without such features infringes Second Amendment rights.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 28, 2014
Title: Condemning the Government of Iran for its gross human rights violations.
Description: Calls on the government of Iran to abide by its international and domestic obligations regarding human rights and civil liberties, including freedoms of assembly, speech, and press. Deplores: (1) the dramatic rise in executions of Iranian citizens by authorities since the election of President Hassan Rouhani in June 2013, and (2) Iran's mistreatment of its religious minorities. Condemns: (1) the recent execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, a woman convicted of killing a man she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault; (2) the relentless persecution of the Baha'i minority; and (3) the undemocratic elections process that denies Iranians the ability to freely choose their own government. Calls on Iran to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Notes that the Administration has designated only one Iranian person for the commission of serious human rights abuses under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act since May 30, 2013. Urges the President to increase the utilization of all available authorities, including the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, to impose sanctions on Iranian officials and others responsible for serious human rights abuses, including by freezing assets and barring U.S. entry. Urges the U.S. government to adopt and implement the following recommendations of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom regarding Iran: to seek that violations of freedom of religion and related human rights are part of discussions with Iran, and to work with allies to apply pressure through advocacy, diplomacy, and targeted sanctions; to speak out at the highest levels about the severe religious freedom abuses in Iran, to work for the release of all prisoners of conscience, and to highlight the need for the international community to hold authorities accountable; and to call on Iran to cooperate fully with and allow the United Nations (U.N.) Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran to visit Iran. Stands with the people of Iran who seek the opportunity to freely elect a government of their choosing.
Last Action: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Last Action Date: November 19, 2014
Title: Strongly condemning the actions of the Russian Federation, under President Vladimir Putin, which has carried out a policy of aggression against neighboring countries aimed at political and economic domination.
Description: Supports the efforts by President Poroshenko and the people of Ukraine to establish a lasting peace for Ukraine that includes: full withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory, full control of its international borders, disarming of separatist and paramilitary forces in eastern Ukraine, adoption of policies to reduce the Russian Federation's ability to use energy exports and trade barriers as weapons to apply economic and political pressure, and an end to interference by the Russian Federation in Ukraine's internal affairs. Affirms the right of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and all countries to exercise their sovereign rights within their internationally recognized borders. Condemns the continuing political, economic, and military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova and the continuing violation of their sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. States that the military intervention by the Russian Federation in Ukraine: is in breach of its obligations under the United Nations Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Accords, and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, and poses a threat to international peace. Calls on the Russian Federation to: reverse its illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, end its support of the separatist forces in Crimea, and remove its military forces from that region (other than those operating in strict accordance with its 1997 agreement on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet Stationing on the Territory of Ukraine); remove its military forces from Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and end its political, military, and economic support of separatist forces; and end violations of the September 2014 cease fire; and cease its support for the Assad regime in Syria. Calls on the President to provide the government of Ukraine with necessary defense articles, services, and intelligence in order to defend its territory and sovereignty. Calls on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and U.S. partners to suspend military cooperation with Russia. Calls on the President to cooperate with U.S. allies to: refuse to recognize the Russian Federation's illegal annexation of Crimea; and impose visa bans, asset freezes, and sanctions on the Russian Federation and its leadership to compel it to end its violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Urges the President, in consultation with Congress, to review the Treaty readiness of U.S. and NATO armed forces. Urges the President to hold the Russian Federation accountable for violations of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Welcomes France's decision to suspend the delivery of the Mistral-class warships to the Russian Federation. Believes that the emplacement by the Russian Federation of its nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory would be provocative and destabilizing. Calls on Ukraine and other countries to support energy diversification initiatives to reduce the Russian Federation's ability to use energy supplies as a means of applying political and economic pressure on other countries. Calls on the President and the Department of State to develop a strategy to produce or otherwise procure and distribute news and information in the Russian language to countries with significant Russian-speaking populations. Calls upon the Russian Federation to seek a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States based on respect for the independence and sovereignty of all countries. Calls for the reestablishment of a cooperative relationship between the people of the United States and the Russian people based on the shared pursuit of democracy, human rights, and peace.
Last Action: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 411 - 10 (Roll no. 548). (text: CR 12/3/2014 H8345-8347))
Last Action Date: December 4, 2014
Title: Firearm Safety and Buyback Grant Act of 2013
Description: Firearm Safety and Buyback Grant Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose upon the seller of any concealable firearm an excise tax equal to 10% of its retail sales price. Exempts sales to federal, state, or local governments. Makes any person who uses a concealable firearm prior to its first retail sale liable for such tax as if such person sold such firearm at retail. Directs the Attorney General to award grants to states, Indian tribal governments, and local governments for their law enforcement agencies to carry out anti-violence and gun safety campaigns and firearms buyback programs.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2013
Description: Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2013 - Establishes a Department of Peacebuilding, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peacebuilding (Secretary). Sets forth the mission of the Department, including: (1) cultivation of peace as a national policy objective; and (2) development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful conflict resolution, and structured conflict mediation. Establishes in the Department: (1) the Office of Peace Education and Training, (2) the Office of Domestic Peace Activities, (3) the Office of International Peace Activities, (4) the Office of Technology for Peace, (5) the Office of Arms Control and Disarmament, (6) the Office of Peacebuilding Information and Research, (7) the Office of Human Rights and Economic Rights, and (8) the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace. Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) and the Secretary of State to consult with the Secretary concerning nonviolent means of conflict resolution when a conflict between the United States and any other government or entity is imminent or occurring. Directs the Secretary to encourage citizens to celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on a Peace Day.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: February 25, 2013
Title: Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2013
Description: Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make two-year grants to states and local governments for subgrants to gun dealers, or to gun dealers directly, to conduct gun buyback programs under which gun dealers shall be issued smart prepaid cards to purchase specified guns (listed in this Act) from individuals wishing to dispose of them. Prohibits: (1) such an individual from using such a card to buy a gun or ammunition, and (2) a merchant from accepting such a card to sell a gun or ammunition. Requires a state or local government to: (1) use 10% of grant funds to recycle the guns received from dealers to make street signs, energy efficient washing machines, car parts, energy efficient refrigerators, or other steel parts such as railroad or metro tracks; and (2) use not more than 10% for administrative costs of the program. Requires a gun dealer participating in the program to: (1) pay an individual 125% of a gun's market value, as determined by the Director; and (2) deliver guns received to the closest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF] office (for grantees) or to the state or local government (for subgrantees) within 60 days of receipt. Allows grant funds to be used to provide incentives to gun dealers to participate.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013
Description: Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any person, other than a licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, collector, or dealer (licensed dealer), from knowingly purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce (including through receipt on consignment or by way of pledge or pawn as security for payment) a firearm from a licensed dealer, or from any person who is not a licensed dealer, for another individual, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such individual meets specified criteria disqualifying such individual from possessing a firearm. Sets forth an enhanced penalty for such a violation committed knowing or with reasonable cause to believe that any firearm involved will be used to commit a crime of violence. Specifies exceptions for purchases for certain bona fide gifts or for a bona fide winner of an organized raffle, contest, or auction. Prohibits: (1) transferring two or more firearms to, or receiving two or more firearms from, a person in interstate or foreign commerce knowing or with the reasonable belief that such transfer, possession, or receipt would violate a federal law punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year; or (2) attempting or conspiring to commit such conduct. Authorizes an enhanced penalty for someone who organizes or supervises such conduct. Subjects: (1) property derived from or used to commit such an offense to forfeiture, and (2) a person who derives profits from such an offense to a fine equal to twice such profits. Includes such offenses: (1) among offenses for which wiretapping may be authorized, (2) within the definition of "racketeering activity," and (3) within the definition of "specified unlawful activity" for purposes of money laundering violations. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements to: (1) ensure that persons convicted of offenses involving straw purchases of firearms and firearms trafficking are subject to increased penalties; and (2) reflect congressional intent that a person convicted of such offense who is affiliated with a gang, cartel, or organized crime ring should be subject to higher penalties. Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the purchaser intends: (1) to sell or otherwise dispose of it to a person in a category of individuals excluded from firearms possession, (2) to sell or otherwise dispose of it in furtherance of a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense, or (3) to export it in violation of law. Increases the maximum term of imprisonment for violating prohibitions against: (1) selling firearms or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person is disqualified from possessing such firearms or ammunition; (2) any such disqualified person transporting or possessing any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce or receiving any firearm or ammunition that has been has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce; (3) receiving or transferring a firearm or ammunition knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it will be used to commit a crime of violence, a drug trafficking crime, or other specified crimes under the Arms Export Control Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, or the Immigration and Nationality Act; or (4) smuggling into or out of the United States a firearm or ammunition with intent to engage in or promote conduct that is punishable under the Controlled Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or maritime drug law enforcement provisions or that constitutes a crime of violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: To prohibit the possession or transfer of junk guns, also known as Saturday Night Specials.
Description: Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the possession or transfer of a junk gun which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Exempts the continuous and otherwise lawful possession of such a gun that began before the effective date of this Act. Defines "junk gun" to mean: (1) a handgun that is not a sporting handgun (i.e., a type of handgun generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes); and (2) any combination of parts from which such a handgun can be assembled.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: To enact title 54, United States Code, "National Park Service and Related Programs", as positive law.
Description: Enacts title 54 of the United States Code into positive law to be entitled "National Park Service and Related Programs." Makes conforming changes to existing law and repeals specified provisions of specified laws.
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-287.
Last Action Date: December 19, 2014
Title: Federal Correctional Workers Safety Act of 2013
Description: Federal Correctional Workers Safety Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to: (1) ensure that each prison facility provides a secure firearms storage area for use by all employees who are authorized to carry a firearm, or (2) allow such employees to store their firearm in a Bureau-approved vehicle lockbox.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 8, 2013
Title: Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act
Description: Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to modify the definition of: (1) "intimate partner" to include a dating partner or former dating partner of a person (replacing language including an individual who cohabitates or has cohabitated with the person); and (2) "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include an offense that has, as an element, the use of physical force or a deadly weapon by a dating partner or former dating partner. Extends the prohibition against the shipment, transport, possession, or receipt of a firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce to: (1) a person who is subject to a court order issued after a hearing (eliminating the requirements that the person received actual notice of and had an opportunity to participate in the hearing) with respect to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, threatening, or placing in reasonable fear of bodily injury an intimate partner, a child of such intimate partner or person, a family member even if such member had never cohabited with such person, an individual who cohabitates or has cohabitated with the person, or an elderly or dependent adult; (2) a person restrained by a court order issued at the request of an employer on behalf of its employee or at the request of an institution of higher education on behalf of its student; and (3) a court order that restrains such a person from intimidating or dissuading a witness from testifying in court.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 15, 2013
Title: To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to more comprehensively address the interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition.
Description: Amends provisions of the federal criminal code governing interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition to require that whenever transported by any means other than a motor vehicle: (1) a firearm shall be in a locked container or secured by a secure gun storage or safety device, and (2) ammunition shall be in a locked container. Excludes from permitted transport of a firearm or ammunition any transportation: (1) with the intent to commit a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year that involves the use or threatened use of force against another; or (2) with knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that such a crime is to be committed in the course of, or arising from, the transportation. Prohibits the arrest or detention of a person for a violation of any state or local law or regulation related to the possession, transportation, or carrying of firearms unless there is probable cause to believe that the person is doing so in a manner not provided for under federal law. Provides that when a person asserts this as a defense in a criminal proceeding: (1) the prosecution shall bear the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person's conduct did not satisfy federal conditions; and (2) the court shall award the prevailing defendant a reasonable attorney's fee. Authorizes a private right of action (and attorney fees) for deprivation of any right, privilege or immunity secured by federal firearms provisions under color of any state or local law or regulation.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 15, 2013
Title: Restoring Confidence in Our Democracy Act
Description: Restoring Confidence in Our Democracy Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to set forth special rules for electioneering communications, especially targeted communications, which national banks, corporations, and labor organizations are prohibited from paying for. Defines "targeted communications" as electioneering communications distributed from a television or radio broadcast station or provider of cable or satellite television service and, in the case of a communication which refers to a candidate for an office other than President or Vice President, is targeted to the relevant electorate. Prohibits independent expenditures by national banks, corporations, and labor organizations. Applies certain limitations on contributions made by any person to a political committee to any contribution to a political committee which accepts donations or contributions that do not comply with contribution or source prohibitions (or made to any account of a political committee established to accept such noncompliant donations or contributions).
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Last Action Date: March 21, 2013
Title: Firearm Risk Protection Act of 2013
Description: Firearm Risk Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to: (1) prohibit the purchase or sale of a firearm unless the purchaser presents proof to the seller and the seller verifies that the purchaser is covered by a qualified liability insurance policy, and (2) require any person who purchases a firearm on or after this Act's effective date to be covered by such a policy. Exempts the purchase or sale of a firearm for use by a federal, state, or local agency. Defines "qualified liability insurance policy" to mean a policy that: (1) provides liability insurance covering the purchaser specifically for losses resulting from use of the firearm while it is owned by the purchaser, and (2) is issued by an insurer licensed or authorized to provide the coverage by the state in which the purchaser resides.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 15, 2013
Title: Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act
Description: Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act - Amends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 to: (1) delay the repeal date for 10 years; and (2) extend coverage of, and exemptions under, the Act to undetectable firearm receivers and ammunition magazines. Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of any receiver for a rifle or handgun, or of any ammunition magazine, that: (1) is manufactured by a person who is not a licensed manufacturer; (2) is not as detectable as the Receiver Security Exemplar or the Magazine Security Exemplar by walk-through metal detectors; or (3) does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of a receiver or a magazine when subjected to inspection by airport x-ray machines. Allows barium sulfate or other compounds to be used in the fabrication of a firearm receiver. Defines a "Receiver Security Exemplar" and a "Magazine Security Exemplar" as objects fabricated at the direction of the Attorney General that are: (1) constructed, respectively, of 3.7 ounces of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling the lower receiver for a rifle or handgun or of 1 ounce of material type 17-4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling an ammunition magazine; and (2) suitable for testing and calibrating metal detectors. Directs the Attorney General to promulgate regulations to permit receivers or magazines that were previously prohibited but that become as detectable as the respective Exemplar in view of advances in weapons detection technology.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 30, 2013
Title: Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013
Description: Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to reauthorize for FY2014-FY2017 the grant program for improvements to the criminal history record system. Amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to: (1) establish a four-year implementation plan to ensure maximum coordination and automation of reporting of records or making records available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; (2) direct the Attorney General to make grants to states, Indian tribal governments, and state court systems to improve the automation and transmittal of mental health records and criminal history dispositions; (3) provide for reductions in grant funding to states that have not implemented a relief from disabilities program; (4) make federal court information available for inclusion in the System; and (5) allow the submission to the System of mental health records that would otherwise be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) expand the enforcement authority or jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); (2) allow the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a federal firearms registry; or (3) extend background check requirements to transfers of firearms other than those made at gun shows or over the Internet, or to temporary transfers for purposes including lawful hunting or sporting, or to temporary possession of a firearm for purposes of examination or evaluation by a prospective transferee. National Commission on Mass Violence Act of 2013 - Establishes the National Commission on Mass Violence to study the availability and nature of firearms, including the means of acquiring firearms, issues relating to mental health, and the impacts of the availability and nature of firearms on incidents of mass violence or in preventing mass violence. Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive factual study of incidents of mass violence, including incidents not involving firearms, to determine the root causes of such mass violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 30, 2013
Title: Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013
Description: Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to reauthorize for FY2014-FY2017 the grant program for improvements to the criminal history record system. Amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NICS Act) to: (1) establish a four-year implementation plan to ensure maximum coordination and automation of reporting of records or making records available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; (2) direct the Attorney General to make grants to states, Indian tribal governments, and state court systems to improve the automation and transmittal of mental health records and criminal history dispositions; (3) provide for reductions in grant funding to states that have not implemented a relief from disabilities programs; (4) make federal court information available for inclusion in the System; and (5) allow the submission to the System of mental health records that would otherwise be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) expand the enforcement authority or jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); (2) allow the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a federal firearms registry; or (3) extend background check requirements to transfers of firearms other than those made at gun shows or over the Internet, or to temporary transfers for purposes including lawful hunting or sporting, or to temporary possession of a firearm for purposes of examination or evaluation by a prospective transferee. National Commission on Mass Violence Act of 2013 - Establishes the National Commission on Mass Violence to study the availability and nature of firearms, including the means of acquiring firearms, issues relating to mental health, and the impacts of the availability and nature of firearms on incidents of mass violence or in preventing mass violence. Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive factual study of incidents of mass violence, including incidents not involving firearms, to determine the root causes of such mass violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 30, 2013
Title: Enforce Existing Gun Laws Act
Description: Enforce Existing Gun Laws Act - Repeals provisions of specified consolidated appropriations acts that: prohibit the use of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) appropriations for salaries or administrative expenses in connection with consolidating or centralizing, within the Department of Justice (DOJ), records of the acquisition and disposition of firearms maintained by federal firearms licensees; prohibit expending funds appropriated to ATF to promulgate or implement any rule requiring a physical inventory of any firearms business; prohibit using appropriated funds for any criminal background check system that does not require the destruction of identifying information submitted for a transferee within 24 hours after the system advises a licensee that the transferee's receipt of a firearm is not prohibited; prohibit the use of ATF appropriations to disclose the contents of the Firearms Trace System database or any information required to be kept or reported on the acquisition and disposition of firearms by firearms licencees, except to a law enforcement agency, a prosecutor in connection with in a criminal investigation or prosecution; prohibit using appropriations to take any action on a Freedom of Information Act request with respect to certain records collected, maintained, or provided by law enforcement agencies in connection with arson or explosives incidents or the tracing of a firearm; require ATF data releases to include language that would make clear that firearms trace data cannot be used to draw broad conclusions about firearms-related crime; prohibit the use of appropriations to pay administrative expenses or the compensation of any federal employee to implement an amendment to regulations permitting the importation of certain firearms classified as curios or relics, to change the definition of "curios or relics" under such regulations, or to deny an application for a permit to import U.S.-origin curios or relics firearms, parts, or ammunition; and prohibit the use of ATF appropriations to deny issuance or renewal of a firearms license due to a licensee's lack of business activity.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: June 14, 2013
Title: Global Partnerships Act of 2013
Description: Global Partnerships Act of 2013 - Sets forth provisions regarding global poverty and related matters, including: (1) reduction of global poverty; (2) acceleration of economic growth; (3) micro enterprise and small and medium enterprise assistance; (4) food security; (5) child survival and maternal health; (6) combating disease; (7) family planning and reproductive health; (8) education; (9) the environment; (10) safe water, sanitation, and housing; (11) gender equality; (12) democratic governance; and (13) humanitarian and disaster assistance. Sets forth provisions regarding advancing peace and mitigating conflict, including: (1) peacekeeping and related missions, (2) strategies and assessments, and (3) organizations and personnel. Sets forth provisions regarding human rights and democracy, including: (1) violence against women and girls, (2) the rule of law, and (3) child protection. Sets forth provisions regarding strategic partnerships, including: (1) the Economic Support Fund, (2) security partnership assistance, (3) drawdown authority, (4) defense article loans and stockpiling, (5) foreign military financing, (6) international military education and training, (7) excess defense article transfers, (8) cooperative project agreements, (9) foreign military sales, (10) arms export controls, (11) defense article leases and retransfers, (12) enforcement and monitoring of arms sales, (13) congressional review of arms sales, and (14) land mines and cluster munitions. Sets forth provisions regarding transnational threats, including: (1) nuclear, missile, and chemical and biological nonproliferation; and (2) counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism authorities. Sets forth provisions regarding the global environment, including: (1) debt-for-nature exchanges, and (2) commercial debt-for-nature exchanges. Sets forth provisions regarding trade and investment, including: (1) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), (2) the United States Trade and Development Agency, and (3) enterprise funds. Sets forth provisions regarding strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, and congressional notification. Sets forth provisions regarding policy restrictions and special authorities with respect to: (1) human rights; (2) non-proliferation; (3) narcotics; (4) terrorism, including in the Middle East; (5) trade and commerce; and (6) policy authorities. Sets forth provisions regarding organization, management, and human resources, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Revises specified provisions of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003, the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962, and the Fulbright-Hays Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
Last Action Date: June 3, 2013
Title: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act
Description: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Requires federal public land management officials to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public lands, including National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, or lands administratively classified as wilderness eligible or suitable and primitive or semi-primitive areas, for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting, except as limited by: (1) statutory authority that authorizes or withholds action for reasons of national security, public safety, or resource conservation; (2) any other federal statute that specifically precludes recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting on specific federal public lands or waters; and (3) discretionary limitations on recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting determined to be necessary and reasonable as supported by the best scientific evidence and advanced through a transparent public process. Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable federal and state law. Requires public land planning documents to include specific evaluations of their effects on opportunities to engage in recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting. Prohibits any action taken under this Act or concerning the National Wildlife Refuge System under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, from being considered to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Declares that no additional identification, analysis, or consideration of environmental effects, including cumulative effects, is necessary or required. Prohibits federal public land management officials from being required to consider the existence or availability of recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities on adjacent or nearby public or private lands in the planning for, or determination of, which federal public lands are open for such activities or in the setting of levels of use for such activities, unless the combination or coordination of such opportunities would enhance the recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities available to the public. Requires Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands, except those on the Outer Continental Shelf, to be open to recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting unless the managing agency acts to close them to such activity for purposes of resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, protection of other permittees, protection of private property rights or interest, national security, or compliance with other law. Requires the heads of federal agencies to use their authorities consistently with this Act to: (1) lease or permit use of their lands for shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific lands for recreational shooting activities. Prohibits such designation from subjecting the United States to any civil action or claim for damages for injury or loss of property or personal injury or death caused by any activity occurring at or on such designated land. Declares that the provision of opportunities for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and the conservation of fish and wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational opportunities on designated federal wilderness areas constitutes the measures necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of such areas. Denies, however, that this determination authorizes or facilitates commodity development, use, or extraction, motorized recreational access or use that is not otherwise allowed under the Wilderness Act, or permanent road construction or maintenance within designated wilderness areas. Reaffirms provisions of the Wilderness Act stipulating that wilderness purposes are "within and supplemental to" the purposes of the underlying federal land unit. Requires the heads of federal agencies, when seeking to carry out fish and wildlife conservation programs and projects or provide fish and wildlife dependent recreation opportunities on designated wilderness areas, to implement those supplemental purposes so as to facilitate and/or enhance, but not to impede, the underlying federal land purposes. Declares that such implementation shall not authorize or facilitate commodity development, use or extraction, or permanent road construction or use within those areas. Requires biennial reports on federal public lands closed to recreational fishing, sport hunting, or shooting. Sets forth requirements for any permanent or temporary withdrawal, change of classification, or change of management status that effectively closes or significantly restricts 640 or more contiguous acres of federal public lands for fishing or hunting or related activities. States that nothing in this Act prohibits a federal land management agency from establishing or implementing emergency closures or restrictions of the smallest practicable area to provide for public safety, resource conservation, national security, or other purposes authorized by law. Requires such an emergency closure to terminate after a reasonable period unless converted to a permanent closure consistent with this Act.
Last Action: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 250.
Last Action Date: January 31, 2014
Title: Secure Firearms Act of 2013
Description: Secure Firearms Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a deduction, up to $1,200 in any taxable year, for the cost of secure gun storage or safety devices for the securing of firearms. Defines "secure gun storage or safety device" as: (1) a device that, when installed on a firearm, is designed to prevent the firearm from being operated; or (2) a safe, gun safe, gun case, lock box, or other device used to store a firearm that can only be unlocked by a key, a combination, or other similar means. Terminates such deduction after 2014. Requires that an amount equal to all amounts allowed as a deduction by this Act be rescinded each year from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Assets Forfeiture Fund.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: June 14, 2013
Title: Preventing Victims of Stalking Act of 2013
Description: Preventing Victims of Stalking Act of 2013 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person: (1) is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening any individual (currently, an intimate partner of such person or child of such partner or person), or engaging in other conduct that would place any individual in reasonable fear of bodily injury; or (2) has been convicted in any court of stalking. Prohibits any such person from shipping or transporting any firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce, possessing any firearm or ammunition in or affecting commerce, or receiving any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: June 14, 2013
Title: Personalized Handgun Safety Act
Description: Personalized Handgun Safety Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice to make grants to qualified entities (states or local governments, organizations, or institutions of higher education) to develop technology for personalized handguns (a handgun that enables only the authorized user to fire it). Requires a recipient to use not less than 70% of grant funds to develop technology for personalized handguns. Allows such entity to use not more than: (1) 20% of such funds to develop technology for retrofitted personalized handguns, and (2) 10% of such funds for administrative costs. Provides for one-year grant awards, subject to renewal. Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a consumer product safety standard providing a specified timetable by which handguns manufactured, sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred, shipped, leased, or distributed in the United States must be personalized handguns or retrofitted personalized handguns, depending on the date of manufacture. Exempts antique firearms and firearms owned by the Department of Defense (DOD). Requires the cost of retrofitting a handgun to be borne by the manufacturer if the manufacturer is operational at the time the retrofit is required. Makes appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) available to the Attorney General for payments to reimburse handgun manufacturers for the costs of retrofitting handguns. Authorizes an official or agency of a state to bring a civil action in U.S. district court against a handgun seller or manufacturer on behalf of residents adversely affected by a violation of such standard. Amends the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to exclude from the definition of "qualified product" any handgun manufactured after two years after enactment of this Act that is not a personalized handgun or retrofitted personalized handgun.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: June 14, 2013
Title: Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2013
Description: Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located.
Last Action: For Further Action See H.R.3590.
Last Action Date: April 4, 2014
Title: Collectible Firearms Protection Act
Description: Collectible Firearms Protection Act - Amends the Arms Export Control Act to allow the importation of certain firearms listed as curios or relics into the United States by a licensed importer without the requirement of an authorization from or payment to the Department of State or the Department of Defense (DOD) upon certification to the Attorney General that such firearms are lawfully possessed under the laws of the exporting country.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
Last Action Date: June 19, 2013
Title: To eliminate the sporting purposes distinction in the gun laws.
Description: Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the federal criminal code distinguishing firearms used or suitable for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes from firearms used generally.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: Protecting Honest, Everyday Americans from Senseless And Needless Taxes (PHEASANT) Act of 2013
Description: Protecting Honest, Everyday Americans from Senseless And Needless Taxes (PHEASANT) Act of 2013 - Prohibits a state or local government from imposing a new tax, or increasing the rate of an existing tax: (1) on the sale of ammunition or firearms that have moved in or that otherwise affect interstate commerce, or (2) payable to conduct a background check incident to the sale of such ammunition or firearms.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: To prohibit the Department of Justice from tracking and cataloguing the purchases of multiple rifles and shotguns.
Description: Prohibits the use of federal funds to require or continue to require a person licensed to deal in firearms to report information to the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act
Description: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years. Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function. Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training.
Last Action: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 178.
Last Action Date: October 22, 2013
Title: To amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to remove the exclusion of pistols, revolvers, and other firearms from the definition of "consumer product" in order to permit the issuance of safety standards for such articles by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Description: Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to remove from the definition of "consumer product" the exclusion for any article sold by a manufacturer, producer, or importer that would be subject to a firearms sales tax under the Internal Revenue Code for pistols, revolvers, and other firearms, including shells and cartridges, thereby permitting the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue safety standards for such articles.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Last Action Date: June 21, 2013
Title: To require the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to submit to Congress an annual report on the effects of gun violence on public health.
Description: Requires the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to report annually to Congress on the effects of gun violence on public health and the status of actions taken to address them.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Last Action Date: June 21, 2013
Title: Police Officers Protecting Children Act
Description: Police Officers Protecting Children Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to provide that the prohibitions against possessing or discharging a firearm in a school zone shall not apply to off-duty or retired law enforcement officers who are authorized to carry a concealed firearm.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: To modify the definition of armor piercing ammunition to better capture its capabilities.
Description: Amends the federal criminal code to expand the definition of "armor piercing ammunition" to include a projectile that may be used in a handgun and that is determined by the Attorney General to be capable of penetrating body armor. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) promulgate standards for the uniform testing of projectiles against the Body Armor Exemplar (body armor that the Attorney General determines meets minimum standards for the protection of law enforcement officers), taking into account variations in performance related to the type of handgun used, the length of the barrel, the amount and kind of powder used, and the projectile's design; and (2) assess and, as appropriate, modify the standards every three years or more frequently if warranted by technological advances.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: Child Handgun Safety Act
Description: Child Handgun Safety Act - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a consumer product safety standard for handguns that requires that: (1) any handgun manufactured in the United States must be child-resistant and include a mechanism that effectively precludes an average five-year old child from operating it when it is ready to fire (effective one year after this Act's enactment date); and (2) any handgun sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred, shipped, leased, or distributed in the United States must be child-resistant as manufactured or retrofitted to be child-resistant (effective two years after such date). Includes as such a mechanism: (1) raising trigger resistance to at least a 10-pound pull, (2) altering the firing mechanism so that an average 5-year old child's hands are too small to operate the handgun, or (3) requiring a series of multiple motions in order to fire the handgun. Exempts antique firearms and firearms owned by the Department of Defense (DOD). Requires the cost of retrofitting a firearm to meet such requirement to be borne by the manufacturer if the manufacturer is operational at the time the retrofit is required, but permits the use of the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund for payments to reimburse handgun manufacturers for the costs of retrofitting required by this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 15, 2013
Title: Student Protection Act
Description: Student Protection Act - Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for any educational institution which punishes a child for: brandishing food which is partially consumed in such a way that the remnant resembles a gun; possessing a toy gun two inches or less in length or made of plastic snap together building blocks; using a finger or hand to simulate a gun; vocalizing imaginary firearms or munitions; wearing a T-shirt that supports Second Amendment rights; drawing a picture of, or possessing an image of, a firearm; or using a writing utensil to simulate a firearm.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm to, and the possession, shipment, transportation, or receipt of a firearm by, certain classes of high-risk individuals.
Description: Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person: (1) has been convicted of a crime of violence in the previous 10 years; (2) is under age 25 and has been adjudicated as having committed an offense that would have been a crime of violence if committed by an adult; (3) has been convicted on 2 separate occasions in any period of 3 consecutive years in the last 10 of an offense that has the possession or distribution of alcohol or a controlled substance as an element; or (4) has been convicted of stalking. Prohibits any such person from: (1) shipping or transporting in interstate or foreign commerce, or possessing in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or (2) receiving any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: To ensure secure gun storage and gun safety devices.
Description: Amends the federal criminal code to repeal provisions: (1) establishing exceptions to the prohibition against a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer unless the transferee is provided with a secure gun storage or safety device; and (2) granting immunity from a qualified civil liability action to a person who has lawful possession and control of a handgun and who uses such a device. Revises penalty provisions by authorizing the Attorney General to suspend (currently for not more than six months) or revoke any firearms license of, or to subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 (currently $2,500), any licensee who has knowingly violated such prohibition.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: SHARE Act
Description: Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement or SHARE Act - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture (USDA) on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. Requires the Advisory Committee to report annually to the Secretaries and to Congress. Exempts the Advisory Committee from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Abolishes the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.
Last Action: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 249.
Last Action Date: January 29, 2014
Title: Justice Exists for All of Us Act of 2013
Description: Justice Exists for All of Us Act of 2013 - Prohibits a state, for each fiscal year beginning three years after enactment of this Act, from having in effect a law or policy that: (1) allows a person to use deadly force when such person is threatened and that does not impose a duty to retreat before using such force in any place where that person is lawfully present (commonly known as a "stand your ground law"), except where the person is a victim of domestic violence; or (2) allows the establishment, organization, or operation of, or participation in, a Neighborhood Watch program that is not registered with the local law enforcement agency and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Allows the Attorney General to authorize up to two one-year extensions of such deadline. Provides that a state that fails to substantially implement this Act for any fiscal year shall not receive 20% of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to it under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. Provides for alternative procedures for compliance by a state that is unable to substantially implement this Act because of a conflict with the state's constitution. Directs the Attorney General to conduct a study of state stand your ground laws, including by examining: (1) the effect that such laws have on rates of violent deaths, and (2) whether women and minorities are targets of the force authorized by such laws at a higher rate than the general population.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Act of 2013
Description: Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Act of 2013 - Considers as a banned hazardous product under the Consumer Product Safety Act any firearm receiver casting or firearm receiver blank (do-it-yourself assault weapon) that: (1) at the point of sale does not meet the definition of a firearm under the federal criminal code; and (2) after purchase can be completed by the consumer to the point at which such casting or blank functions as a firearm frame or receiver for a semiautomatic assault weapon or machine gun. Makes it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, manufacture for sale, or import into the United States for sale, to a consumer an assault weapon parts kit or machine gun parts kit. Makes it unlawful to market or advertise any of these weapons for sale on any medium of electronic communications, including over the Internet. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct or support research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of serious mental illness. Authorizes additional appropriations for National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayments in order to ensure an adequate supply of behavioral and mental health professionals. Reauthorizes the mental and behavioral health education and training program of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Renames mental illness awareness training grants as mental health awareness grants. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to award grants under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to eligible entities for the development of curricula for continuing education and training to health care professionals on identifying, referring, and treating individuals with serious mental illness. Revises the program to assist local communities in developing ways to assist children in dealing with violence. Requires the Secretary to assist local communities and schools in implementing a comprehensive mental health program to assist children in dealing with trauma and violence. Replaces the mandate for youth interagency research, training, and technical assistance centers to one for a single suicide prevention technical assistance center addressing the prevention of suicide among all ages, particularly among groups at high risk for suicide. Reauthorizes and revises the programs for: (1) youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies, and (2) mental health and substance abuse disorder services. Directs the Secretary, acting through the SAMHSA and HRSA Administrators, to award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to eligible entities for the provision of coordinated and integrated mental health services and primary health care. Requires programs receiving grants to address the problems of persons who experience violence related stress to provide for continued operation of the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI), including an NCTSI coordinating center. Directs the Secretary to provide information to priority mental health need grantees regarding evidence-based practices for the prevention and treatment of geriatric mental health disorders and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study: (1) the availability of inpatient beds for treatment of mental health disorders; (2) its impact on access to, and the quality of, mental health services; and (3) the impact on individuals with serious mental illness and on states of the exclusion from medical assistance under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act of payment for care or services for certain patients in an institution for mental diseases. Increases requirements for certain annual reports and audits by states of recipients of block grants for: (1) Community Mental Health Services, and(2) prevention and treatment of substance use disorders. Declares that the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 shall be construed, in the case of a group health plan or health insurance coverage that provides both medical and surgical benefits and mental health and substance use disorder benefits, to ensure full parity of such benefits, including: (1) at all levels of medically appropriate treatment, and (2) with respect to applicable medical management techniques. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to eligible entities for planning, establishing, coordinating, and evaluating a nationwide public education campaign designed to: (1) promote public awareness and understanding of mental health disorders, including serious mental illness; and (2) reduce the stigma associated with mental health disorders. Requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to research the causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries from gun violence. Prohibits construction of this mandate, however, as authorizing advocacy or promotion of gun control. Requires the Secretary, acting through the CDC Director, to improve the National Violent Death Reporting System, particularly through the voluntary participation of additional states. Declares that none of the authorities provided to the Secretary under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall be construed to prohibit a physician or other health care provider from: (1) asking a patient about the ownership, possession, use, or storage of a firearm or ammunition in the patient's home; (2) speaking to a patient about gun safety; or (3) reporting to the authorities a patient's threat of violence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2013
Description: National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a person who is carrying a valid, government-issued identification document containing that person's photograph and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state, and who is not prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm under federal law, to possess or carry a concealed handgun (other than a machine gun or destructive device) in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that state.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: Fresh Start Act of 2013
Description: Fresh Start Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to allow an individual convicted of a nonviolent criminal offense to file a petition for expungement of the record of such conviction. Allows expungement if such individual: (1) has never been convicted of any criminal offense other than the nonviolent offenses committed in a single criminal episode that includes the offense for which expungement is sought; (2) has fulfilled all requirements of the sentence of the court, including payment of all fines, restitution, or assessments and completion of terms of imprisonment and probation; and (3) has remained free (if required by the court's sentence) from dependency on or abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance for at least one year. Requires the Attorney General to maintain an unaltered nonpublic copy of expunged criminal records, to be disclosed for limited purposes to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to increase by 5% grant funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to states that implement expungement procedures substantially similar to the procedures enacted by this Act. Decreases such grant funding by 5% for states that fail to adopt expungement procedures.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 13, 2013
Title: Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act of 2013
Description: Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the excise tax on the sale of firearms by manufacturers, producers, or importers, to: (1) increase the rate of such tax to 20% on pistols, revolvers, and other firearms and on any lower frame or receiver for a firearm; and (2) impose a 50% tax on shells and cartridges. Exempts any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States from such tax. Allocates revenues from the increased excise tax under this Act for law enforcement and public safety grant programs, including programs for research on gun violence and its prevention. Increases the occupational tax on importers, manufacturers, and dealers in firearms and the transfer tax on firearms. Modifies the definition of "firearm" for excise tax purposes to include a semiautomatic pistol chambered for cartridges and configured with receivers commonly associated with rifles and capable of accepting detachable magazines.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 15, 2013
Title: Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2013
Description: Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2013 - Requires the Attorney General's prior written approval for a federal prosecution of an offense under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) or the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA), or for any conspiracy to commit such an offense, where the offense involves the illegal distribution or possession of a controlled substance in an amount less than that specified as a minimum for an offense under CSA or, in the case of any substance containing cocaine or cocaine base, in an amount less than 500 grams. Modifies CSA and CSIEA to delete specified mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 15, 2013
Title: United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2013
Description: United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2013 - Directs the President to use U.S. influence at the United Nations (U.N.) on a wide variety of issues, including to shift the funding mechanism for the regular budget of the U.N. from an assessed to a voluntary basis. Withholds up to 50% of nonvoluntary U.S. contributions to the regular budget of the U.N. unless the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that 80% of the total regular budget of the U.N. is apportioned on a voluntary basis. Requires the annual congressional budget justification to include a detailed itemized request in support of the U.S. contribution to the regular budget of the U.N. Sets forth requirements for the Secretary of State with respect to oversight of U.S. contributions to the U.N. and their use by U.N. entities. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of a U.S. contribution to any U.N. entity unless the entity has provided the Secretary with a transparency certification and is in compliance with it. Prohibits the use of funds made available: (1) for international organizations for any purpose other than an assessed U.S. contribution to a U.N. entity or other international organization; (2) for international organizations and programs for any purpose other than a voluntary U.S. contribution to a U.N. entity or other international organization; and (3) for international peacekeeping activities for any purpose other than a U.S. contribution to U.N. peacekeeping activities, to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), or to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Directs the Secretary to withhold from the regular budget of the U.N. an amount equal to the amount of U.S. overpayments to the U.N. States that it is U.S. policy to oppose any proposals on expansion of the U.N. Security Council that would: (1) diminish U.S. influence on the Security Council, or (2) include veto rights for new Security Council members. Expresses the sense of Congress that any U.N. definition of terrorism should not be used to undermine peaceful, pro-freedom, pro-democracy movements against authoritarian rule. Directs the Secretary to use U.S. influence at the U.N. to ensure: (1) Taiwan's participation in relevant U.N. entities, and (2) that no representative of a country designated as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 shall preside as chair or president of any U.N. entity. Directs the Secretary to withhold U.S. contributions from any U.N. entity that recognizes a Palestinian state or upgrades the status of the Palestinian observer mission at the U.N., the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority (PA), or any other Palestinian administrative organization or governing entity before achievement of a final peace agreement with Israel. Provides that until the Secretary makes a specified certification to Congress: (1) the Secretary shall withhold from a U.S. contribution to a regular budget of the U.N. an amount equal to the amount that would be allocated for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), (2) the Secretary shall not make a voluntary contribution to UNHRC, and (3) the United States shall not run for a UNHRC seat. Directs the Secretary to withhold from a U.S. contribution to a regular budget of the U.N. an amount equal to the amount that would be allocated for: (1) the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; and (2) any other U.N. Special Procedures used to display bias against the United States or Israel or to provide support for any member state which is subject to U.N. Security Council sanctions, under a Security Council-mandated human rights investigation, has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, or is a country of particular concern for religious freedom. States that it is U.S. policy to oppose any legitimization of the Goldstone Report and to lead a diplomatic campaign supporting its revocation. Directs the Secretary to withhold from the U.S. contribution to the regular budget of the U.N. an amount that is equal to the percentage of such contribution that would be or has been expended by the U.N. for any part of the Goldstone Report process. Prohibits funds from being used for U.S. participation in any part of the Durban III process. Withholds U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) or to any successor or related entity unless the Secretary makes specified certifications to Congress. Prohibits any U.S. contribution to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from being used to support Technical Cooperation program assistance to any country, including North Korea, that: (1) has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism; or (2) is in breach of, or under investigation for breach of, obligations regarding its safeguards agreement with the IAEA, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or any relevant U.N. Security Council resolution. Directs the Secretary to withhold from the U.S. voluntary contribution to the IAEA an amount proportional to that spent by the IAEA in 2007-2008 on Technical Cooperation program assistance to such countries. Directs the President to use U.S. influence at the IAEA to make Iran and Syria ineligible to receive any nuclear material, technology, equipment, or assistance from any member state. Sets forth U.S. policy regarding reform of U.N. peacekeeping operations. Directs the President to use U.S. influence at the U.N. to oppose the creation of new, or expansion of existing, U.N. peacekeeping operations until the Secretary certifies to Congress that specified peacekeeping reforms have been adopted by the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations or the General Assembly.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: September 19, 2013
Title: SHARE Act of 2013
Description: Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act of 2013 or the SHARE Act of 2013 - Title I: Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "chemical substance" for purposes of such Act: (1) any component of any pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, or cartridge the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax, including shot, bullets and other projectiles, propellants, and primers; and (2) any sport fishing equipment the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax and sport fishing equipment components. Title II: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years. Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function. Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of BLM to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training. Title III: Public Lands Filming - Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), for any film crew of five persons or fewer, to require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary. Makes such a permit valid for such activities or projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary for a 12-month period. Title IV: Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for the importation of any polar bear part (other than an internal organ) from a polar bear taken in a sport hunt in Canada to any person who submits proof that the polar bear was legally harvested before May 15, 2008 (currently by February 18, 1997), when polar bears were listed as a threatened species by the Department of the Interior. Title V: Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013 - Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. Sets forth state electronic duck stamp application requirements. Allows the Secretary to determine the number of new states permitted per year to participate in the electronic duck stamp program. Instructs the Secretary to require electronic stamp revenue and customer information collected by each state to be transmitted in accordance with a written agreement between the Secretary and the state. Title VI: Access to Water Resources Development Projects Act - Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located. Title VII: Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. (Abolishes the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.) Title VIII: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Declares that recreational fishing and hunting are environmentally acceptable and beneficial activities that occur and can be provided on public lands and waters without adverse effects on other uses or users. Requires a federal public land management official, in cooperation with the respective state and fish and wildlife agency, to exercise the authority of the official under law, including regarding land use planning, to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public land for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting, except as described in this Act. Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable law. Prohibits actions taken under this Act or actions concerning the National Wildlife Refuge System under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 from being considered to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Prohibits public land management officials from being required to consider the existence or availability of recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities on adjacent or nearby lands in the planning for or determination of which public lands are open for these activities or in the setting of levels of use for these activities on public lands, unless the combination or coordination of such opportunities would enhance the opportunities available to the public. Requires that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service land, excluding land on the Outer Continental Shelf, be open to recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting unless the managing agency acts to close lands to such activity. Permits closures or restrictions on such land for purposes including resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, national security, protection of private property rights, or compliance with other law. Requires agencies to: (1) lease or permit use of federal public land for shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific land for recreational shooting activities. Declares that the provision of opportunities for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and the conservation of fish and wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational opportunities on designated wilderness areas on federal public lands constitutes the measures necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of such areas. Provides that such declaration does not authorize or facilitate commodity development, use, or extraction, motorized recreational access or use that is not otherwise allowed under the Wilderness Act, or permanent road construction or maintenance within designated wilderness areas. Reaffirms the provisions of the Wilderness Act that stipulate that wilderness purposes are "within and supplemental to" the purposes of the underlying federal land unit. Requires the head of each federal agency, when seeking to carry out fish and wildlife conservation programs and projects or providing fish and wildlife dependent recreation opportunities on designated wilderness areas, to implement these supplemental purposes while not impeding on the underlying conservation purpose. Prohibits such implementation from authorizing or facilitating commodity development, use or extraction, or permanent road construction or use within designated wilderness areas. Requires biennial reports on closures of federal public lands to sport hunting, recreational fishing, or shooting. Sets forth requirements for specified closures or significant restrictions involving 640 or more contiguous acres of federal public land or water to hunting or recreational fishing or related activities. Instructs federal public land agencies to consult with the advisory councils specified in Executive Orders 12962 (relating to recreational fisheries) and 13443 (relating to the facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation) in carrying out this Act. Title IX: Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act - Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013 - Directs the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to: (1) prepare and adopt a data collection strategy for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery; and (2) prepare, adopt, and submit to the Secretary of Commerce a fishery management plan providing for the conservation and management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper and describing the standards of compliance for Gulf coastal states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to use in developing fishery management measures. Permits an increase in the quota of Gulf of Mexico red snapper apportioned to commercial fishing based on stock assessments. Prohibits such plan, for a three-year period, from reducing such quota, except in the event of a reduction in stock prior to the end of such period in which case the quotas apportioned to all fishing sectors shall be reduced to ensure a sustainable harvest. Directs the Secretary to determine whether the plan: (1) includes fishery management measures compatible with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and (2) ensures the long-term sustainability of Gulf of Mexico red snapper. Requires each Gulf coastal state to submit for the Commission's approval appropriate management measures that ensure compliance with the objectives of the fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary, upon receiving the Commission's certification that the management measures of all such states have been approved, to: (1) revoke federal regulations and portions of the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico that conflict with the plan for Gulf of Mexico red snapper, and (2) transfer management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper to such states. Directs the Commission to determine, periodically, whether state enforcement is satisfactory. Requires the Commission to: (1) offer assistance to noncompliant states, and (2) vote on whether to notify the Secretary when a state remains noncompliant. Authorizes the Secretary to close a fishery within federal waters adjacent to a noncompliant state. Directs the Secretary to report biennially to Congress, the governor of each Gulf coastal state, and the Commission regarding the economic impacts for the local, regional, and national economy of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 15, 2013
Title: Safe Military Bases Act
Description: Safe Military Bases Act - Repeals: (1) Army Regulation 190-14, entitled "Carrying of Firearms and Use of Force for Law Enforcement and Security Duties"; and (2) Department of Defense Directive Number 5210.56, entitled "Use of Deadly Force and the Carrying of Firearms by DOD Personnel Engaged in Law Enforcement and Security Duties." Nullifies any provision in any other law, rule, regulation, or executive order that prohibits military personnel trained in firearms from carrying officially issued or personally owned firearms on military bases. Prohibits: (1) the Secretary of Defense (DOD) and the Secretaries of the military departments from reinstating the firearm bans repealed in this Act or enacting similar restrictions; and (2) the President from taking any executive action, promulgating any rule, or issuing any executive order or regulation to prohibit military personnel from carrying firearms.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 9, 2014
Title: Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act
Description: Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) allow licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors (licensees) to sell or deliver any firearm (currently, rifles or shotguns) to a resident of a state other than the state in which the licensee is located or temporarily located if the licensee meets with the purchaser to complete the sale or delivery and the transaction complies with the laws of the state in which the transfer is conducted and the purchaser's state of residence; and (2) eliminate the requirement that a licensee must conduct business at a gun show only in the state that is specified on the licensee's license. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition: (1) between licensed firearms dealers at any location in any state; or (2) by a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to an unlicensed person at a temporary location in any state. Amends definitions for federal firearms provisions to: (1) revise the definition of a "member of the Armed Forces on active duty" to include a member (or member's spouse) who is a resident of the state in which such person maintains legal residence or in which the member maintains a place of abode from which the member commutes each day to the permanent duty station; and (2) provide that an officer or employee of the United States (other than a member of the Armed Forces) stationed outside the United States for a period exceeding one year, or a spouse residing with such an officer or employee, is a resident of the state in which the person maintains legal residence.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 9, 2014
Title: Protecting Individual Liberties and States' Rights Act
Description: Protecting Individual Liberties and States' Rights Act - Amends the federal criminal code to modify the definition of a "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" for purposes of firearms prohibitions to specifically exclude any offense pertaining to marijuana that occurs in a state if the conduct constituting the offense is lawful under the law of the state. Provides that the prohibition against knowingly selling or otherwise disposing of a firearm or ammunition to any person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and the prohibition against such a person transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce, shall not apply with respect to a sale or other disposition to, or the transportation, possession, or receipt by, a person if: (1) the controlled substance is marijuana, (2) the possession of marijuana is lawful under the law of the state, and (3) the person is a resident of the state.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 9, 2014
Title: Airport Security Act of 2013
Description: Airport Security Act of 2013 - Directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration [TSA]) to establish a program to prohibit all but specified authorized individuals from possessing a firearm at a covered airport, including any individual who enters the airport, or exits public transportation at it, for air travel, meeting another individual, picking up cargo, or employment. Directs the Assistant Secretary to require airport operators to: (1) display conspicuous notices summarizing the program at each airport entrance, and (2) require law enforcement personnel to monitor the airport to prevent violations and escort air travelers who are authorized to carry a firearm. Prescribes criminal penalties for nonauthorized individuals who knowingly possess a firearm at a covered airport.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 9, 2014
Title: Domestic Violence Criminal Disarmament Act of 2013
Description: Domestic Violence Criminal Disarmament Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to reserve not more than 5% of Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds for one or more states that have demonstrated that such a state has adopted policies, procedures, protocols, laws or regulations pertaining to the possession or transfer of firearms or ammunition that: impose restrictions and penalties substantially similar to or more comprehensive than those under federal criminal code provisions prohibiting the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to a person who has been convicted of domestic violence or who is subject to a protective order with respect to an intimate partner; require state and local courts to: (1) consider whether such person possesses firearms that have been or are likely to be used to threaten, harass, menace, or harm the victim or the victim's child or may otherwise pose a danger to the victim; and (2) order the seizure or surrender of firearms and ammunition from such person; are designed to ensure that state or local law enforcement execute the seizure or surrender of authorized firearms and ammunition when such person is reported to possess firearms that are obtained or possessed illegally; provide for the seizure or surrender of authorized firearms and ammunition and the return of such firearms and ammunition in a manner that protects the safety of victims of such persons; and give state and local law enforcement the authority, to the extent allowable under federal laws and the U.S. Constitution, to seize firearms or ammunition when responding to domestic violence situations where there is probable cause to believe such firearms and ammunition are contraband, illegally in the possession of the offender, have been or are likely to be used to threaten, harass, menace, or harm the victim, or may otherwise pose a danger to the victim.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 9, 2014
Title: SHARE Act
Description: Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act or the SHARE Act - (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to report to Congress, not later than 12 months after enactment of this Act, an assessment of its expected economic impacts, including a review of expected increases in recreational hunting, fishing, shooting, and conservation activities. Title I: Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - (Sec. 102) Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "chemical substance" for purposes of such Act: (1) any component of any pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, or cartridge the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax, including shot, bullets and other projectiles, propellants, and primers; and (2) any sport fishing equipment the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax and sport fishing equipment components. Title II: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - (Sec. 204) Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years. (Sec. 205) Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function. (Sec. 206) Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of BLM to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training. Title III: Public Lands Filming - (Sec. 302) Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), for any film crew of five persons or fewer, to require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary. Makes such a permit valid for such activities or projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary for a 12-month period. Title IV: Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - (Sec. 402) Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for the importation of any polar bear part (other than an internal organ) from a polar bear taken in a sport hunt in Canada to any person who submits proof that the polar bear was legally harvested before May 15, 2008 (currently by February 18, 1997), when polar bears were listed as a threatened species by the Department of the Interior. Title V: Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - (Sec. 503) Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. (Sec. 504) Sets forth state electronic duck stamp application requirements. Allows the Secretary to determine the number of new states permitted per year to participate in the electronic duck stamp program. (Sec. 505) Instructs the Secretary to require electronic stamp revenue and customer information collected by each state to be transmitted in accordance with a written agreement between the Secretary and the state. Title VI: Access to Water Resources Development Projects Act - Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act - (Sec. 602) Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located. Title VII: Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee - (Sec. 701) Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. (Abolishes the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.) Title VIII: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - (Sec. 802) Declares that recreational fishing and hunting are environmentally acceptable and beneficial activities that occur and can be provided on public lands and waters without adverse effects on other uses or users. (Sec. 804) Requires a federal public land management official, in cooperation with the respective state and fish and wildlife agency, to exercise the authority of the official under law, including regarding land use planning, to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public land for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting, except as described in this Act. Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable law. Prohibits actions taken under this Act or actions concerning the National Wildlife Refuge System under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 from being considered to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Prohibits public land management officials from being required to consider the existence or availability of recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities on adjacent or nearby lands in the planning for or determination of which public lands are open for these activities or in the setting of levels of use for these activities on public lands, unless the combination or coordination of such opportunities would enhance the opportunities available to the public. Requires that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service land, excluding land on the Outer Continental Shelf, be open to recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting unless the managing agency acts to close lands to such activity. Permits closures or restrictions on such land for purposes including resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, national security, protection of private property rights, or compliance with other law. Requires agencies to: (1) lease or permit use of federal public land for shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific land for recreational shooting activities. Declares that the provision of opportunities for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and the conservation of fish and wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational opportunities on designated wilderness areas on federal public lands constitutes the measures necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of such areas. Provides that such declaration does not authorize or facilitate commodity development, use, or extraction, motorized recreational access or use that is not otherwise allowed under the Wilderness Act, or permanent road construction or maintenance within designated wilderness areas. Reaffirms the provisions of the Wilderness Act that stipulate that wilderness purposes are "within and supplemental to" the purposes of the underlying federal land unit. Requires the head of each federal agency, when seeking to carry out fish and wildlife conservation programs and projects or providing fish and wildlife dependent recreation opportunities on designated wilderness areas, to implement these supplemental purposes while not impeding on the underlying conservation purpose. Prohibits such implementation from authorizing or facilitating commodity development, use or extraction, motorized recreational access, road construction or maintenance, or use not otherwise allowed within designated wilderness areas. Requires biennial reports on closures of federal public lands to sport hunting, recreational fishing, or shooting. Sets forth requirements for specified closures or significant restrictions involving 640 or more contiguous acres of federal public land or water to hunting or recreational fishing or related activities. Instructs federal public land agencies to consult with the advisory councils specified in Executive Orders 12962 (relating to recreational fisheries) and 13443 (relating to the facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation) in carrying out this Act. Requires the Secretary to manage the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to allow the use of motorized vessels in a manner not more restrictive than the use restrictions in effect on November 21, 2013. Permits the Secretary to manage the area to allow the use of motorized vessels in a manner that is less restrictive than such use restrictions. (Sec. 805) Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from restricting the use of dogs in deer hunting activities within the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana unless those restrictions are applicable to the smallest practicable parts and are necessary for the reduction or control of trespassing onto adjacent land. Title IX: Respect for Treaties and Rights - (Sec. 901) Prohibits this Act from being construed to affect or modify any treaty or other right of any federally recognized Indian tribe. Title X: Exemptions for Taking Migratory Birds on Certain Agricultural Land - Hunter and Farmer Protection Act - (Sec. 1002) Amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to permit the taking of any migratory game bird, including waterfowl, coots, and cranes, on or over land that: (1) is not otherwise a baited area; and (2) contains a standing crop (including an aquatic crop), standing, flooded, or manipulated natural vegetation, flooded harvested cropland, or an area on which seed or grain has been scattered solely as the result of a normal agricultural practice, as determined by the head of the state office of the USDA Cooperative Extension System with the concurrence of the state department of fish and wildlife. Title XI: Sense of Congress Regarding Snowmobiles on National Forest System Lands - (Sec. 1101) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Forest Service should continue to allow snowmobiles access to National Forest System lands at the same levels allowed as of March 28, 2013, subject to closures for public health and safety at the discretion of the respective agencies, until a final travel management rule is promulgated for snowmobiles.
Last Action: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 305.
Last Action Date: February 10, 2014
Title: To extend the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 for 10 years.
Description: Extends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 for 10 years (the Act prohibits the manufacture or possession of firearms that are not detectable by the types of x-ray machines commonly used at airports).
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-57.
Last Action Date: December 9, 2013
Title: Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2013
Description: Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2013 - Amends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 to extend such Act for 10 years. Revises what are prohibited firearms to include any firearm: (1) that, after removal of all parts other than major components (currently, of grips, stocks, and magazines), is not as detectable by walk-through metal detectors as the Security Exemplar; or (2) any major component of which, if subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices (currently, x-ray machines) commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component. Modifies the definition of: (1) "major component" to include the barrel of a firearm only in the case of a rifle or shotgun; and (2) "Security Exemplar" to repeal the requirement that it be fabricated within 12 months after enactment of such Act. Exempts from undetectable firearms provisions: (1) a prototype firearm for detectability testing; (2) any firearm received by, in the possession of, or under the control of the United States; or (3) the manufacture, importation, possession, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pursuant to an existing contract with the United States. (Replaces the exemption of any firearm that has been certified by the Secretary of Defense [DOD] or the Director of Central Intelligence [CIA] as necessary for military or intelligence applications or that is manufactured and sold exclusively to U.S. military or intelligence agencies.)
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 27, 2014
Title: To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.
Description: Second Amendment Enforcement Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, transporting for legitimate purposes, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Declares that nothing in such prohibitions shall be construed to prohibit the District from regulating the carrying of firearms by a person, either concealed or openly, other than at the person's dwelling place, place of business, or on other land possessed by the person. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (FCRA) to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically, more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger. Includes also the frame or receiver of any such firearm, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a firearm into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms, and (2) requirement that licensed firearms dealers keep records of ammunition received into inventory and ammunition sold or transferred. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Permits a licensed firearms dealer to sell or transfer ammunition, excluding restricted pistol bullets, to persons not otherwise prohibited from possessing or receiving ammunition. Declares that, in the case of a sale or transfer of a handgun to a District resident, a federally licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms in Maryland or Virginia shall be treated as a dealer licensed under this Act if: (1) the transferee meets in person with the transferor to accomplish the transfer; and (2) the sale, delivery, and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of sale in both the District and the jurisdiction in which the transfer occurs. Amends FCRA to allow an individual to possess ammunition in the District if the individual owns (currently, holds the valid registration certificate for) a firearm of the same gauge or caliber as such ammunition. (In effect, repeals the handgun ammunition ban.) Repeals the requirement that firearms in the possession of individuals (other than law enforcement personnel) must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked, unless the firearm is kept at an individual's place of business, or while being used for lawful recreational purposes within the District . Continues current criminal penalties for allowing access of a minor (under age 16) to loaded firearms, except in specified circumstances. Repeals increased penalties for violations of the prohibition against allowing access of a minor to loaded firearms if injury or death results to the minor or another person. Requires the U.S. attorney, however, to consider both the extent of the minor's injuries and the effect of the minor's injury or death on both of the minor's parents when deciding whether to file charges. Prohibits any prosecution in such circumstances unless the person who committed the violation behaved in a grossly negligent manner, or unless similarly egregious circumstances exist. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends the District of Columbia Code to: (1) allow private persons or entities owning property in the District to prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on their property (other than authorized law enforcement personnel or lessees occupying residential or business premises), (2) prohibit unauthorized carrying of rifles or shotguns in the District, (3) authorize certain individuals to carry firearms in certain places and for certain purposes, (4) prescribe requirements for lawful transportation of firearms, and (5) prohibit the use of toy and antique pistols to commit a violent or dangerous crime. Authorizes the District of Columbia to prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms (except to lessees occupying residential or business premises) within any building or structure under its control, or in any area of it, which has implemented security measures to identify and exclude unauthorized or hazardous persons or articles. Amends the Office of Administrative Hearings Establishment Act of 2001 to grant jurisdiction to the Office of Administrative Hearings to hear cases pertaining to denial or revocation of firearm dealer licenses. Repeals provisions of FCRA that require a gun offender to register and to verify certain identifiable information with the District's Chief of Police. Defines "gun offender" as a person: convicted at any time of a gun offense in the District; convicted at any time of a gun offense who resides in the District within the registration period established under the Act; or who has, as a mandatory condition of release, a registration requirement in the District certified by the District Superior Court. Repeals: the Firearms Registration Amendment Act of 2008, the Inoperable Pistol Amendment Act of 2008, the Firearms Amendment Act of 2012, and the Administrative Disposition for Weapons Offenses Amendment Act of 2012. Restores and revives any provision of law amended or repealed by such Acts as if they had not been enacted into law.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: December 10, 2013
Title: Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013
Description: Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013 - Repeals death penalty provisions for a wide range of homicide-related offenses under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act, and other statutes relating to aircraft hijacking, espionage and treason, and offenses punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Prohibits the sentencing to death or execution of any person for any violation of federal law after the enactment of this Act. Commutes death penalties imposed prior to the enactment of this Act to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: January 27, 2014
Title: Protecting Gun Owners in Bankruptcy Act of 2014
Description: Protecting Gun Owners in Bankruptcy Act of 2014 - Amends federal bankruptcy law to permit an individual debtor to exempt from the property of the estate in bankruptcy the debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $3,000, in a single firearm or firearms.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
Last Action Date: March 20, 2014
Title: Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015
Description: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (SAA, 2008) to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments for eligible individuals to weeks of employment ending on or before June 1, 2014. (Authority for payment of unemployment compensation expired on December 31, 2013. This amendment authorizes payment of compensation for the entire period between January 1, 2014, and June 1, 2014.) (Sec. 3) Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until May 31, 2014, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and November 30, 2014, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2013, to May 31, 2014, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. (Sec. 4) Amends the SAA, 2008 to appropriate funds out of the employment security administration account through the first five months of FY2015 to assist states in providing reemployment and eligibility assessment activities. Requires the provision of such activities to an individual, at a minimum, within a time period after he or she begins to receive Tier-1 EUC benefits, and if applicable, again within a time period after he or she begins to receive Tier-3 EUC benefits. Requires the Secretary of Labor to determine appropriate time periods. Specifies the purposes of the activities, namely to: better link the unemployed with the overall workforce system by bringing individuals receiving unemployment insurance benefits in for personalized assessments and referrals to reemployment services; and provide them with early access to specific strategies that can help get them back into the workforce faster, including through: (1) the development of a reemployment plan, (2) provision of access to relevant labor market information, (3) provision of access to information about industry-recognized credentials that are regionally relevant or nationally portable, (4) provision of referrals to reemployment services and training, and (5) an assessment of the individual's on-going eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. (Sec. 5) Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through May 31, 2014, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits. (Sec. 6) Makes a change in application of a certain requirement (nonreduction rule) to a state that has entered a federal-state EUC agreement, under which the federal government would reimburse the state's unemployment compensation agency making EUC payments to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular unemployment compensation under state or federal law and meet specified other criteria. (Under the nonreduction rule such an agreement does not apply with respect to a state whose method for computing regular unemployment compensation under state law has been modified to make the average weekly unemployment compensation benefit paid on or after June 2, 2010, less than what would have been paid before June 2, 2010.) Declares that the nonreduction rule shall not apply to a state which has enacted a law before December 1, 2013, that, upon taking effect, would violate the nonreduction rule. Allows a state whose agreement was terminated, however, to enter into a subsequent federal-state EUC agreement on or after enactment of this Act if, taking into account this inapplicability of the nonreduction rule, it would otherwise meet the requirements for an EUC agreement. (Thus allows such a subsequent EUC agreement to permit payment of less than the average weekly unemployment compensation benefit paid on or after June 2, 2010.) (Sec. 7) Prohibits the use of federal funds to: (1) make payments of unemployment compensation to any individual whose adjusted gross income in the preceding year was at least $1 million, or (2) determine whether or not this prohibition applies to an individual. (Sec. 8) Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to: study the use of work suitability requirements to strengthen them to ensure that unemployment insurance benefits are being provided to individuals who are actively looking for work and truly want to return to the labor force; and brief Congress on the ongoing study, including preliminary recommendations for appropriate legislation and administrative action. (Sec. 9) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to revise the applicable percentages for determining minimum funding standards for single-employer defined benefit pension plans (funding stabilization). Exempts plans providing accelerated benefit distributions from the application of such standards. (Sec. 10) Amends ERISA, with respect to pension insurance premiums paid by a designated payor (i.e., the contributing sponsor or plan administrator for a single employer pension plan and the plan administrator for the multiemployer plan) to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Allows a designated payor to elect to prepay, during any plan year, the applicable PBGC flat dollar insurance premium due for up to five consecutive subsequent plan years specified in the election. (Sec. 11) Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to extend through FY2024 the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to collect customs user fees for the processing of certain merchandise. (Sec. 12) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a bona fide volunteer providing firefighting and prevention services, emergency medical services, or ambulance services to a state or local government or tax-exempt organization shall not be counted in determining the number of full-time employees of an employer for purposes of the employer mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Excludes services rendered as a bona fide volunteer to any governmental entity and any tax-exempt organization (specified employer) from the determination of the number of full-time employees of an employer for purposes of such mandate. Defines "bona fide volunteer" as an employee whose only compensation from a specified employer is in the form of: (1) reimbursement for (or reasonable allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performances of volunteer services; or (2) reasonable benefits and nominal fees, customarily paid in connection with the performance of volunteer services.
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-291.
Last Action Date: December 19, 2014
Title: Help Communities Fight Violent Crime Act
Description: Help Communities Fight Violent Crime Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY2014-FY2018 to the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) for the conduct of Violent Crime Reduction Partnerships in: (1) the 10 most violent cities in the United States with a population of more than 100,000 individuals, and (2) any community that is in close proximity to any such city. Authorizes the Director to transfer such appropriated funds to any other federal agency or instrumentality for conducting activities under such a Partnership.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 16, 2014
Title: Firearm Importation Fairness Act of 2014
Description: Firearm Importation Fairness Act of 2014 - Amends the federal criminal code to eliminate the requirement that a firearm or ammunition be particularly suitable for sporting purposes in order for such firearm or ammunition to be authorized to be: (1) imported into the United States; or (2) shipped to a member of the Armed Forces on active duty outside the United States, to a club composed of such members, or to the U.S. residence of such a member. Prohibits the Attorney General from authorizing the importation of armor piercing ammunition, incendiary ammunition, or tracer ammunition.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 16, 2014
Title: FISA Transparency and Modernization Act
Description: FISA Transparency and Modernization Act - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to exclude call detail records from the categories of items that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may seek in an application to a FISA court for an order requiring the production of tangible things (commonly referred to as business records) for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. Defines "call detail records" as communications routing information. Prohibits the federal government from acquiring under FISA: (1) records of any electronic communication without the use of specific identifiers or selection terms; or (2) library circulation records, library patron lists, book sales records, book customer lists, firearm sales records, tax return records, educational records, or medical records containing information that would identify a person without the use of specific identifiers or selection terms. Authorizes the FISA court or the FISA court of review to appoint amicus curiae to assist in the consideration of certain FISA applications. Expands the categories of FISA court decisions, orders, or opinions that the Attorney General (DOJ) is required to submit to Congress within 45 days after issuance of the decision, to include: (1) a denial or modification of a request for an order under FISA; and (2) a change of the application, or a new application, of any FISA provision. Directs the Attorney General to include with such court documents a brief statement of the relevant background factual information, questions of law, legal analysis, and decision rendered. Requires the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to: (1) conduct a declassification review of each decision, order, or opinion issued by the FISA court and the FISA court of review that includes a significant construction or interpretation of FISA; and (2) make such documents publicly available to the greatest extent practicable, subject to permissible redactions. Authorizes the DNI to waive such review and public availability requirements if: (1) a waiver is necessary to protect the national security or properly classified intelligence sources or methods, and (2) an unclassified summary is made publicly available. Requires the Attorney General to make available to the public an annual report describing the number of instances in which the contents of a U.S. person's communication were acquired under FISA authorities that could not reasonably have been anticipated to capture such contents. Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to require the DNI to report annually to Congress regarding violations of laws or executive orders by personnel of an element of the intelligence community, including violations of Executive Order 12333 relating to U.S. intelligence activities. Directs each head of an element of the intelligence community to review, at least every five years, the Attorney General-approved procedures required by the intelligence collection provisions of such Executive Order. Requires the heads of such elements, in coordination with the Attorney General and DNI, to propose any appropriate modifications to existing procedures and to provide any modified procedures to Congress. Establishes procedures under which the Attorney General and the DNI may authorize jointly, for up to one year, the acquisition from an electronic communication service provider (ECSP) of certain communications records pertaining to a foreign power if: (1) the FISA court issues an order approving a certification, submitted to the court by the Attorney General and the DNI, that attests to the use of appropriate selection procedures and privacy protections; or (2) the Attorney General and the DNI, before obtaining FISA court approval, make a determination that time does not permit the issuance of a FISA court order because exigent circumstances exist that may result in the loss or untimely acquisition of intelligence important to national security. Authorizes the Attorney General and the DNI, upon obtaining a FISA court order or making such an exigent circumstances determination, to acquire from an ECSP records created as a result of communications of an individual or facility that, based on reasonable and articulable suspicion, is: (1) a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power; (2) associated with a foreign power or the agent of a foreign power; or (3) in contact with, or known to, a suspected agent of a foreign power. Requires any such acquisition to be reasonably designed not to acquire: (1) the contents associated with any communication; (2) records of wire or electronic communications without the use of specific identifiers or selection terms; or (3) the name, address, social security number, employer or taxpayer identification number, date of birth, or credit card number of any U.S. person. Directs the Attorney General and the DNI, in the case of an acquisition under exigent circumstances before obtaining the FISA court's approval, to submit a certification to the FISA court for authorization within seven days after such determination. Allows the Attorney General and the DNI, with respect to an acquisition approved by the FISA court or authorized under exigent circumstances, to issue a directive requiring an ECSP to provide to the government records that exist or are created in the future. Requires the government to compensate ECSPs for providing such records. Directs the Attorney General to provide the FISA court a copy of each acquisition directive submitted to an ECSP. Permits the FISA court, if it determines that the selection procedures in a directive are improper, to order that the production of records be terminated or modified, that the information produced be destroyed, or another appropriate remedy. Allows ECSPs to file a petition with the FISA court to modify or set aside a directive. Permits the government or an ECSP to file a petition seeking Supreme Court review of a decision of the FISA court of review. Prohibits procedures for issuing such directives from being construed to prevent a directive from requiring an ECSP to produce additional records, whether existing or created in the future, based on records produced by a previous directive. Directs the DNI to: (1) ensure that employees, officers, and contractors of each element of the intelligence community who have been determined eligible for access to classified information are monitored on a continual basis to determine whether they continue to meet eligibility requirements; (2) require information sharing between elements of the community concerning potentially derogatory security information that may impact such an individual's security clearance eligibility. Requires the DNI to ensure that contracts awarded by elements of the intelligence community require the contractor to operate under a security plan that complies with DNI standards for intelligence community networks.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 16, 2014
Title: Gun Confiscation and Registration Prevention Act
Description: Gun Confiscation and Registration Prevention Act - Prohibits any of the funds made available through the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 or the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program from being provided to any jurisdiction which: (1) maintains a registry of gun ownership, or (2) conducts a program of gun confiscation directed at any firearm which is not prohibited by federal law or any group of persons who are not prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 16, 2014
Title: Preventing Gun Violence Act
Description: Preventing Gun Violence Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the trafficking in or possession of a firearm by a person who has been adjudicated of committing a violent juvenile act. Defines a "violent juvenile act" as: (1) an act by a person under the age of 18 that, if committed by an adult, would be punishable by a prison term exceeding one year and that either has, as an element, the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person or involves, by its nature, a substantial risk that physical force against another person may be used; and (2) such an act that is committed by a person who has attained age 18 but not age 21 for which the person is tried as a juvenile or youthful offender under state law.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: April 16, 2014
Title: To modify the definition of "antique firearm".
Description: Modifies the definition of "antique firearm" under federal firearms provisions and the Internal Revenue Code to include firearms manufactured in or before 1913 (currently, 1898).
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015
Description: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for FY2015 for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, for science-related programs, and related agencies. Title I: Department of Commerce - Department of Commerce Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for the Department of Commerce for FY2015 for: the International Trade Administration; the Bureau of Industry and Security; the Economic Development Administration; the Minority Business Development Agency; economic and statistical analysis programs; the Bureau of the Census; the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including expenses for restoration of Pacific salmon populations; and departmental management, including for the Office of Inspector General. (Sec. 104) Adopts by reference and makes applicable to FY2015 requirements of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012, that prohibit NOAA from entering into a contract for development of a major program (a program with an estimated life-cycle cost of more than $250 million) unless the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere makes specified determinations, including that: (1) the technical, cost, and schedule risks are clearly identified and the program has developed a plan to manage those risks; and (2) the technologies required for the program have been demonstrated in a relevant laboratory or test environment. (Sec. 105) Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to furnish services to facilitate the use or occupancy of the Herbert C. Hoover Building, Washington, D.C., or other buildings for which the Secretary is responsible. (Sec. 106) Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a grant recipient from deterring child pornography, copyright infringement, or any other unlawful activity over its networks. (Sec. 107) Authorizes the Administrator of NOAA to use the resources of federal, state, local, or tribal agencies and other entities to carry out the responsibilities of any statute administered by NOAA. (Sec. 108) Requires the Department of Commerce to provide a monthly report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on any official travel to China by any Department of Commerce employee. Title II: Department of Justice - Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) for FY2015 for: general administration, including for information sharing technology, the administration of pardon and clemency petitions and immigration-related activities, and the Office of the Inspector General; the United States Parole Commission; legal activities, including for the antitrust division, the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys, the U.S. Trustee Program, the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, fees and expenses of witnesses, the Community Relations Service, and the Assets Forfeiture Fund; the United States Marshals Service; Federal Prisoner Detention; the National Security Division; interagency law enforcement activities relating to drug trafficking and money laundering; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); the Federal Prison System, including for the Federal Prison Industries, Incorporated; the Office on Violence Against Women; and the Office of Justice Programs, including for criminal justice statistics programs, state and local law enforcement assistance, juvenile justice programs, public safety officers benefits, and community-oriented policing services programs. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to: (1) pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or in the case of rape; or (2) require any person to perform or facilitate the performance of an abortion. (Sec. 204) Reaffirms the obligation of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to provide escort services necessary for a female inmate to receive an abortion outside a federal facility. Sec. 206) Authorizes the Attorney General to extend through FY2015 the Personnel Management Demonstration Project without limitation on the number of employees or the positions covered. (Sec. 207) Prohibits the use of funds made available under this Act to: (1) transport a maximum or high security prisoner other than to a prison or facility certified by the Bureau of Prisons as appropriately secure; (2) purchase cable television services or rent equipment used primarily for recreational purposes in federal prisons, except for inmate training, religious, or educational purposes; (3) purchase a new or enhanced information technology program having estimated development costs in excess of $100 million without appropriate program management controls and oversight mechanisms in place; (4) begin, continue, finish, process, or approve a public-private competition under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 for work performed by employees of the Bureau of Prisons or of Federal Prison Industries, Inc.; or (5) facilitate the transfer of an operable firearm to an individual known or suspected to be an agent of a drug cartel, unless U.S. law enforcement personnel continuously monitor or control the firearm at all times. (Sec. 215) Prohibits income retained in the DOJ Working Capital Fund from being made available for obligation during FY2015. Title III: Science - Science Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for FY2015 for: (1) the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including for the Office of the Inspector General; and (3) the National Science Foundation (NSF), including for the Office of the National Science Board and the Office of the Inspector General. Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY2015 for: (1) the Commission on Civil Rights, (2) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), (3) the International Trade Commission, (4) the Legal Services Corporation, (5) the Marine Mammal Commission, (6) the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and (7) the State Justice Institute. Title V: General Provisions - (Sec. 501) Sets forth restrictions and prohibitions on the use of funds under this Act, including prohibitions against the use of funds to: promote the sale or export of tobacco or tobacco products or to seek the reduction or removal by any foreign country of restrictions on marketing of such products, except for restrictions which are not applied equally to all tobacco products of the same type; discriminate against or denigrate the religious or moral beliefs of students who participate in DOJ financial assistance programs or their parents or legal guardians; acquire a high-impact or moderate-impact information system by the Departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, or NSF unless such agencies have conducted risk-related reviews; justify the use of torture by any U.S. official or contract employee; pay administrative expenses or compensate any U.S. officer or employee in connection with requiring licenses for exporting certain firearms components to Canada with a total value not exceeding $500 wholesale in any transaction; include in any new bilateral or multilateral trade agreement the text of certain provisions of the United States-Singapore, Australia, or Morocco Free Trade Agreements; authorize or issue a national security letter in contravention of specified laws authorizing the FBI to issue national security letters; purchase first class or premium airline travel in contravention of federal regulations; pay for the attendance of more than 50 federal agency employees at a conference outside the United States, unless such conference is for the training of law enforcement personnel; permit NASA or the Office of Science and Technology Policy to partner with China or any Chinese-owned company unless specifically authorized by law; pay salaries of personnel to deny, or fail to act on, an application for the importation of any model of shotgun if legal requirements for such importation are met and no application for the importation of such model of shotgun had been denied prior to January 1, 2011; maintain or establish a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and exchanging of pornography; award contracts, grants, or loan guarantees to any corporation that has been convicted of a felony under federal law within the preceding 24 months or that has unpaid federal tax liability; implement the Arms Trade Treaty until the Senate approves a resolution of ratification for such treaty; or require a licensed firearm dealer to report information to DOJ regarding the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person. (Sec. 506) Renders any person who mislabels a product sold in or shipped to the United States as "Made in America" ineligible to receive any contract or subcontract funded by this Act. Requires funds made available by this Act to be used for the purchase of items that are manufactured, produced, or assembled in the United States, its territories or possessions. (Sec. 521) Requires program managers of projects of the Departments of Commerce or Justice, NASA, or the NSF totaling more than $75 million to notify such agencies if project costs have increased by 10%. (Sec. 522) Authorizes funding for intelligence-related activities during FY2015 until the enactment of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2015. (Sec. 523) Prohibits contracting with or awarding grants in excess of $5 million to a contractor or grantee unless such contractor or grantor certifies compliance with tax return requirements and has not been convicted of a criminal tax offense. (Sec. 524) Rescinds unobligated balances available for Department of Commerce, Departmental Management, Franchise Fund. Requires the rescission, not later than September 30, 2015, of specified unobligated balances available for certain DOJ programs. (Sec. 527) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to trade remedy laws to preserve the ability of the United States to: (1) enforce vigorously its trade laws, (2) avoid agreements that lessen the effectiveness of domestic and international disciplines on unfair trade or safeguards to protect competition, and (3) address and remedy market distortions that lead to dumping and subsidization. (Sec. 528) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to: (1) transfer or release to or within the United States Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who is not a U.S. citizen or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and who is or was held on or after June 24, 2009, at the U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the Department of Defense (DOD); or (2) construct, acquire, or modify any facility in the United States, its territories, or possessions to detain or imprison such a detainee. (Sec. 530) Directs that funds made available in this Act be used to purchase light bulbs that are "Energy Star" qualified or have the "Federal Energy Management Program" designation. (Sec. 540) Provides that the amount by which the allocation of new budget authority under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 exceeds the amount of proposed new budget authority is $0 (increased by $866,000). (Sec. 541) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act under the heading "Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery" for grant guidelines or requirements to establish minimum riparian buffers. (Sec. 542) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act for: leasing or purchasing new light duty vehicles for any executive fleet or for an agency's fleet inventory, except in accordance with the Presidential Memorandum dated May 24, 2011; entering into contracts with parties convicted in the preceding three years of fraud in connection with a public contract or of other related civil or criminal offenses or with parties having delinquent federal taxes exceeding $3,000 that remain unsatisfied; implementing Executive Order No. 13547, relating to the stewardship of oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes, including the National Ocean Policy developed under such Executive Order; enforcing fines for refusing to answer questions for the American Community Survey or for giving false answers; contravening functions performed by the Attorney General and delegations of authority by the Attorney General; assessing or collecting the fee for the trawl fishery cost recovery program; contravening the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, anti-discrimination provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, and prohibitions against unlawful police pattern or practices under the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994; NASA's Advanced Food Technology Project; loan guarantees for Innovative Technologies in Manufacturing (under Economic Development Administration, Economic Development Assistance Programs); negotiating a waiver of Buy American Act requirements; examining climate effects on tea quality and socioeconomic responses under award number 1313775-CNH; designing, implementing, administering, or carrying out the U.S. Global Climate Research Program National Climate Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, the United Nation's Agenda 21 sustainable development plan, or the May 2013 Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order No. 12866; carrying out Operation Choke Point; assisting a state or local government that has in effect any law, policy, or procedure in contravention of federal immigration laws; the Investigative and Public Affairs Unit of the FBI, except for the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, the Most Wanted Terrorists, and missing children programs; preventing a state from implementing its own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of industrial hemp; preventing specified states from implementing their own laws authorizing the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana; transferring or temporarily assigning employees to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for the purpose of screening clemency applications;contravening industrial hemp research provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014 by DOD or DEA; compelling a journalist or reporter to testify about information or sources regarded as confidential; relinquishing the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with respect to Internet domain name system functions, including responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file and the Internet assigned numbers authority functions; enforcement of the Fair Housing Act by DOJ in a manner that relies upon an allegation of liability for discrimination; contravening provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act allowing communication between government agencies and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service; or negotiating or entering into a trade agreement that establishes a limit on greenhouse gas emissions, except with respect to the administration of a tax or tariff.
Last Action: Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S3836-3842; tex
Last Action Date: June 19, 2014
Title: To authorize the appropriation of funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for conducting or supporting research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
Description: Authorizes appropriations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for each of FY2015-FY2020 to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention under the Public Health Service Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Last Action Date: May 23, 2014
Title: To modify the definition of "antique firearm".
Description: Modifies the definition of "antique firearm" under the federal criminal code and the Internal Revenue Code to cover any firearm manufactured in or before the calendar year that is 100 years before the year in which a determination is made as to whether the firearm is an antique firearm (currently, any firearm manufactured in or before 1898).
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Promoting Healthy Minds for Safer Communities Act of 2014
Description: Promoting Healthy Minds for Safer Communities Act of 2014 - Title I: Strengthening and Improving Intervention Efforts - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program to award grants to states, political subdivisions, or nonprofit private entities for the expansion of mental health crisis assistance programs. Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise a community children and violence program to assist local communities and schools in applying a public health approach to mental health services, including by: (1) revising eligibility requirements for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; and (2) providing for comprehensive school mental health programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed, and age appropriate. Requires a comprehensive school mental health program funded under this Act to assist children in dealing with trauma and violence. Makes only a partnership between a local educational agency and at least one community program or agency that is involved in mental health eligible for such funding. Sets forth assurances required for eligibility, including that: (1) the local education agency will enter into a memorandum of understanding with at least one relevant community-based entity that clearly states how school-employed mental health professionals will be utilized and the responsibilities of each partner; (2) the program will include training of all school personnel, family members of children with mental health disorders, and concerned members of the community; and (3) the program will demonstrate the measures to be taken to sustain the program after funding terminates. Requires grantees to comply with the health information privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Requires the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop a fiscally appropriate process for evaluating grant program activities, including: (1) the development of guidelines for the submission of program data by recipients; and (2) the development of measures of outcomes to be applied by recipients in evaluating programs, to include student and family measures and local educational measures. Amends the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 to: (1) expand the assistance provided under such Act, and (2) reauthorize appropriations for FY2015-FY2019. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to establish or expand: (1) veterans treatment court programs, which involve collaboration among criminal justice, veterans, and mental health and substance abuse agencies to provide qualified veterans (preliminarily qualified offenders who were discharged from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable) with intensive judicial supervision and case management, treatment services, alternatives to incarceration, and other appropriate services, including housing, transportation, job training, education, and assistance in obtaining benefits; (2) peer to peer services or programs to assist such veterans in obtaining treatment, recovery, stabilization, or rehabilitation; (3) practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, transitional, and other appropriate services to such veterans who have been incarcerated; and (4) training programs to teach criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving such veterans. Revises the definition of "preliminarily qualified offender" to include, in the case of a veterans treatment court program, an adult or juvenile accused of an offense who has been diagnosed with, or manifests obvious signs of, mental illness or a substance abuse disorder or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorder. Removes a requirement that the adult or juvenile be accused of a nonviolent offense. Requires preliminarily qualified offenders to be unanimously approved for participation in a collaboration program by, when appropriate, the relevant prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or corrections official, judge, and representative from the relevant mental health agency. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to enhance the capabilities of a correctional facility to: (1) identify and screen for mentally ill inmates; (2) plan and provide assessments of the clinical, medical, and social needs of inmates and appropriate treatment and services that address mental health and substance abuse needs; (3) develop, implement, and enhance post-release transition plans that coordinate services and public benefits, the availability of mental health care and substance abuse treatment services, alternatives to solitary confinement and segregated housing, and mental health screening and treatment for inmates placed in solitary confinement or segregated housing; and (4) train employees in identifying and responding to incidents involving inmates with mental health disorders or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) award not more than six grants per year to applicants for the purpose of reducing the use of public services by mentally ill individuals who consume a significantly disproportionate quantity of public resources, and (2) make grants to provide support for programs that teach law enforcement personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving persons with such disorders. Directs the Attorney General to give priority in awarding grants for adult or juvenile collaboration programs to applications that: (1) propose interventions that have been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism, and (2) use validated assessment tools to target preliminarily qualified offenders with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a need for treatment and services. Title II: Improving Mental Health Research - Directs the Secretary to expand research on self-directed and other-directed violence associated with mental illness. Title III: Understanding the Epidemic of Gun Violence - Requires the Secretary to expand: (1) the National Violent Death Reporting System to all 50 states, and (2) research and grants of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address gun violence. Authorizes FY2015-FY2019 appropriations for CDC research and grants. Title IV: Mental Health and Access to Firearms - Amends federal criminal code prohibitions on the sale, purchase, transport, or possession of firearms or ammunition to: (1) specify that prohibitions with respect to persons committed to a mental institution apply to persons committed on an involuntary inpatient or involuntary outpatient basis, and (2) expand the prohibitions to persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. Expands the definition of: (1) "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include offenses by children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, or dating partners; and (2) "intimate partner" to include such individuals as well as parents and guardians. (Thus, adds such individuals to the categories of persons that may be prohibited from possessing or receiving guns under domestic violence laws.) Authorizes the Attorney General to reserve not more than 5% of Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds for grants to states that: (1) give state and local law enforcement the authority to seize firearms or ammunition from an individual pursuant to a warrant, where there is probable cause to believe the individual possessing such firearms or ammunition poses an elevated risk of harm to himself or herself or to another individual; or (2) temporarily prohibit an individual involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness on an emergency basis from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Directs the Attorney General to establish a system for the prompt notification of state and local enforcement agencies when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) notifies a licensed dealer that an individual attempting to obtain a firearm is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal or state law. Title V: Restoration - Amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to set forth requirements for persons adjudicated to have a mental disorder or committed to a mental institution to apply for relief (restoration of firearm ownership rights) after one year by submitting an opinion of a psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist in order to seek a determination by the adjudicating agency that the person no longer manifests the symptoms that elevate the risk of harm. Title VI: Submission of Mental Health Records to National Instant Criminal Background Check System - Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics to report annually to Congress regarding the number of persons reported by each state to NICS who are prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm based on a conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Reauthorizes the national criminal history improvement program for FY2015-FY2018. Requires the Attorney General to establish a four-year implementation plan for each state or Indian tribal government desiring a grant to improve the automation and transmittal to federal and state repositories of: (1) mental health records and criminal history dispositions, (2) records relevant to determining whether a person has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, (3) court orders, and (4) mental health adjudications or commitments. Requires each federal agency in possession of records relevant to a determination of whether a person is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm under specified circumstances to make such records, updated at least quarterly, available to the Attorney General for use in NICS background checks. Directs HHS, under HIPAA, to allow states to make information concerning persons adjudicated as a mental defective or those committed to mental institutions available for NICS.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: End Purchase of Firearms by Dangerous Individuals Act of 2014
Description: End Purchase of Firearms by Dangerous Individuals Act of 2014 - Requires each state to establish a reporting system through which mental health professionals may report to appropriate state entities information that is sufficient for inclusion in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) regarding individuals: (1) who are committed to a mental institution on a voluntary basis, or who are temporarily committed or held on an involuntary basis, and who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others; or (2) who communicate to a mental health professional a serious threat of violence against another individual who is reasonably identifiable. Sets forth time periods after which the basis under which such information was made available no longer applies, and requires the Attorney General to modify or remove records from the NICS accordingly. Requires each state to: (1) make electronically available to the Attorney General records from such information that are relevant to a determination of whether such an individual is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm, (2) modify or remove information from any database that the federal or state government makes available to the NICS when the basis for inclusion of such information no longer applies, and (3) ensure that its reporting system includes an appeals process comparable to the NICS process. Requires each state to: (1) establish a process relating to temporarily committing or holding individuals on an involuntary basis at mental health facilities; and (2) ensure that any individual who is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to information included in such a reporting system when the individual was under age 18 is evaluated by the date such individual is age 21 to determine whether he or she should remain disqualified. Authorizes the Attorney General to withhold an increasing percentage of funds that would otherwise be allocated under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program from states that fail to comply with such requirements beginning three years after enactment of this Act. Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for an individual to sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm or ammunition to a person knowing that such person: (1) has been voluntarily, or temporarily and involuntarily, committed to a mental institution, has been determined to present a danger to others, and is serving a period of commitment at such institution (or, in the case of temporary involuntary commitment, has been released for less than five years); (2) has been formally committed and is serving a period of commitment or has been released; or (3) during the prior six-month period, has communicated to a mental health professional a serious threat to commit an act of physical violence against another identifiable person. Prohibits such a person from shipping, transporting, or possessing any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce or from receiving any firearm or ammunition that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) guidelines for state reporting systems and for states to establish a process for temporarily committing or holding individuals at a mental health institution on an involuntary basis, (2) limiting liability for mental health professionals who fail to report under a reporting system, and (3) determinations of dangerousness. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine to conduct a comprehensive study on state statutes, enacted before enactment of this Act, that require mental health professionals to directly report certain individuals into state firearm prohibition databases. Changes various statutory references to persons adjudicated as a "mental defective" to persons adjudicated as "ineligible due to disqualifying mental status."
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Pause for Safety Act of 2014
Description: Pause for Safety Act of 2014 - Authorizes the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to to assist states in carrying out state legislation that: (1) authorizes family members or close associates of an individual to apply for, and state courts or magistrates to issue, gun violence prevention orders (prohibiting a named individual from owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving firearms because such individual poses a significant threat of personal injury to the individual or others) and gun violence prevention warrants (directing a law enforcement officer to temporarily seize any firearm in the possession of such individual); and (2) requires each law enforcement agency of the state to comply with a procedure that requires a law enforcement officer, in conjunction with performing a wellness check (a visit to an individual's residence to assess whether the individual poses a danger to the individual or others due to a mental, behavioral, or physical condition), to check whether the individual is listed on any of the firearm and ammunition databases of the state or jurisdiction in which the individual resides. Requires: (1) a court issuing such an order and warrant to hold a hearing within 14 days to determine whether the individual who is the subject of the order may own, purchase, possess, or receive firearms and whether any seized firearms should be returned; (2) the state or petitioner to establish probable cause that the individual poses a significant risk of personal injury to the individual or others by owning or possessing the firearm; (3) the individual to be prohibited from possessing a firearm for up to one year if he or she is found to pose a significant threat; and (4) the firearm to be returned if the court finds that the state has not met the required standard of proof. Authorizes a law enforcement agency to seek renewal of an order if it has probable cause to believe the individual continues to pose a threat. Amends the federal criminal court to prohibit: (1) the sale or disposition of a firearm or ammunition to anyone subject to such an order; and (2) any person subject to such an order from owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act
Description: Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act - Amends federal firearms provisions to expand the definition of: (1) "intimate partner" to include a dating partner or former dating partner; and (2) "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include a misdemeanor offense that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon by a dating partner or former dating partner against the victim. Prohibits the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to, or the possession or receipt of a firearm by, a person who: (1) is subject to a court order, or an ex parte order, that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, threatening, or engaging in other conduct that would put an individual in reasonable fear of bodily injury, including an order issued at the request of an employer on behalf of its employee or at the request of an institution of higher education on behalf of its student, or from intimidating or dissuading a witness from testifying in court; or (2) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of stalking under federal, state, territorial, or tribal law or of a crime that involves conduct that would be proscribed by prohibitions against stalking if committed within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2014
Description: Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2014 - Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement between the Hualapai Tribe, the Department of of the Interior, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, and the Freeport Minerals Corporation. Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Hualapai Tribe Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Agreement between the Tribe, the United States as trustee for the Tribe, and Freeport Minerals Corporation. Directs the Secretary of Interior to execute both agreements. Sets forth provisions regarding the waiver, release, and retention of specified water rights claims.
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-223.
Last Action Date: December 16, 2014
Title: Regulatory Agency Demilitarization Act
Description: Regulatory Agency Demilitarization Act - Prohibits a federal agency from purchasing or using a firearm. Excludes the Departments of Defense (DOD), Justice (DOJ), and Homeland Security (DHS), the military departments, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S. Capitol Police, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Directs the Comptroller General to submit a report to Congress annually that includes: information regarding each federal agency that has specialized units that receive special tactical or military-style training or use hard-plated body armor, shields, or helmets and that respond to high-risk situations that fall outside the capabilities of regular law enforcement officers; a description of each such unit; a description of the training and weapons of each such unit; the criteria for activating each such unit and how often each such unit was activated for each of the previous ten years; the annual cost of equipping and operating each such unit; and any other information that is relevant to understanding the usefulness and justification for the units. Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to repeal provisions authorizing law enforcement powers for an Inspector General, any Assistant Inspector General for Investigations under an Inspector General, and any special agent supervised by such an Assistant Inspector General.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: June 23, 2014
Title: Crime Gun Tracing Act
Description: Crime Gun Tracing Act - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Attorney General, in awarding public safety and community policing (COPS ON THE BEAT) grants, to give preferential consideration to an applicant that has reported all firearms recovered during the previous 12 months at a crime scene or during the course of a criminal investigation to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), or to a state agency that reports such firearms to the Bureau, for the purpose of tracing. Requires each application for a COPS grant to specify: (1) whether the applicant recovered any firearms at a crime scene or during the course of a criminal investigation during the 12 months before the submission of the application; (2) the number of such firearms recovered; (3) the number of such firearms reported to the Bureau, or to a state agency that reports such firearms to the Bureau, for tracing; and (4) the reason why any such firearms were not so reported.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: July 21, 2014
Title: Children's Firearm Marketing Safety Act
Description: Children's Firearm Marketing Safety Act - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate rules to prohibit the marketing of firearms to children, including prohibitions against: the use of cartoon characters to promote firearms and firearm products, firearm brand name merchandise marketed for children, the use of firearm marketing campaigns with the specific intent to appeal to children, the manufacturing of a gun with colors or designs that are specifically designed to appeal to children, and the manufacturing of a gun intended for use by children that does not clearly and conspicuously note, by specified warnings on the firearm, the risk posed by the firearm by labeling somewhere visible on the firearm. Treats violations of such rules as violations of Federal Trade Commission Act regulations regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Provides for enforcement of this Act by the FTC and through civil actions by state attorneys general.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Last Action Date: July 18, 2014
Title: Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act of 2014
Description: Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act of 2014 or the REDEEM Act - Amends the federal criminal code to provide a process for the sealing or expungement of records relating to nonviolent or juvenile offenses. Requires a court considering a petition to seal a nonviolent offense to balance factors including the harm of the protected information to the ability of the petitioner to secure and maintain employment. Sets forth limitations on involuntary room confinements at juvenile detention facilities. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to remove offenses relating to possession or use of a controlled substance from the categories of drug offenses that result in the convicted individual being ineligible for assistance under: (1) a state program funded with temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) grants under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act; or (2) the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program) or any state program carried out under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Prohibits the denial of such assistance and benefits if the convicted individual: (1) committed an offense related to a substance abuse disorder, (2) participates in a substance abuse treatment program, and (3) complies with all court-imposed obligations. Includes employment services among the categories of federal benefits that are not to be denied under PRWORA. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow the Attorney General, in awarding public safety and community policing grants, to give preferential consideration to an applicant in a state with laws similar to this Act.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: September 2, 2014
Title: Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014
Description: Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2015-FY2018 to the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) for: the Northeast Corridor Improvement Fund account, the National Network account, the Office of the Inspector General, and national infrastructure investment capital grants. Directs Amtrak to establish internal controls to ensure its costs and revenues are allocated to either the Northeast Corridor or the National Network. Directs the Secretary to establish substantive and procedural requirements for Northeast Corridor and National Network investment capital grant requests. Directs Amtrak to establish: a Northeast Corridor Improvement Fund account for Northeast Corridor capital improvement projects, and a National Network account for capital expenses and operating costs of the National Network. Requires the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission to: develop an annual capital investment plan for the Northeast Corridor main line between Boston, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia, and the Northeast Corridor branch lines connecting to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Spuyten Duyvil, New York; and update, once every 10 years, a Northeast Corridor service development plan. Requires Amtrak, and states and public entities that own infrastructure supporting or providing intercity rail passenger transportation on the Northeast Corridor, to develop and update asset management plans for the Northeast Corridor main line and the Northeast Corridor branch lines. Requires the Amtrak Board of Directors to prepare a five-year capital and operating plan for the Northeast Corridor and National Network. Directs the Secretary to establish a State-Supported Route Advisory Committee. Amends the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 to revise requirements with respect to methodologies for Amtrak route and service planning decisions. Requires Amtrak, as a condition of receiving a grant, to obtain the services of an independent entity to develop and recommend objective methodologies for Amtrak to use in the planning of intercity rail passenger transportation routes and services. Revises alternate passenger rail service pilot program requirements. Requires the Surface Transportation Board, within 120 days after submission of a dispute between Amtrak and a rail carrier (or carriers) awarded the right to provide rail service over a route in which Amtrak is to grant access to its reservation system, stations, and facilities, to issue an order requiring Amtrak to provide such facilities and services to those carriers if certain criteria are met. Directs Amtrak to develop a plan to eliminate the operating loss for food and beverage service on board its trains. Directs Amtrak to request proposals from private sector persons or entities to utilize Amtrak-owned rights-of-way for telecommunications systems, energy distribution systems, and other appropriate activities. Authorizes Amtrak to enter into an agreement to implement any such proposal or proposals. Requires Amtrak to report to Congress on options to enhance development around Amtrak stations. Amends the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 to extend indefinitely specified authority to restructure long-term Amtrak debt and capital leases. Directs Amtrak to develop a pilot program to allow passengers to transport domesticated cats or dogs on certain Amtrak trains. Directs the Amtrak Inspector General to evaluate Amtrak's boarding procedures at the 10 stations through which the most people pass. Directs the Secretary to develop a program to issue competitive grants for capital improvement projects included in the Northeast Corridor Priority Project List. Amends the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to revise Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program requirements. Modifies application procedures for direct loans and loan guarantees for railroad improvement projects. Requires the Secretary, in granting applications for such loans and guarantees, to give priority to projects for the installation of a positive train control. Directs the Secretary to make direct loans and loan guarantees or capital improvement projects in the Northeast Corridor (NEC Fast Forward Program). Prescribes requirements for the award of grants in excess of $1 billion. Directs the Secretary to study the availability and use of small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)-funded intercity rail passenger transportation projects. Directs the FRA to convene a working group to evaluate the restoration of intercity rail passenger service in the Gulf Coast region between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Orlando, Florida. Directs the Secretary to begin a rulemaking to govern the federal review, permitting, and approval or disapproval of freight railroad and intercity and commuter rail passenger transportation infrastructure projects. Directs the Secretary to: (1) pursue program alternatives to promote a consistent approach in the treatment of railroad and rail-related properties for historic preservation review, and (2) develop mechanisms for streamlining compliance with specified requirements.
Last Action: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 469.
Last Action Date: December 1, 2014
Title: Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act
Description: Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act - Amends the program under which the Secretary of Defense is authorized to transfer excess personal property of the Department of Defense (DOD) to federal and state agencies for law enforcement activities. Excludes counter-drug activities from the categories of law enforcement activities for which DOD property may be transferred under such program. Requires recipients of DOD property to certify that they: (1) have personnel, technical capacity, and training to operate the property; and (2) will return to the DOD any property that is surplus to the recipient's needs. Requires recipients that are not federal agencies to certify that they have notified their local community of requests for DOD property with a notice on a publicly accessible Internet website and postings at prominent locations in the jurisdiction. Requires the Secretary to submit annually to Congress a description of property to be transferred along with a certification that the transfers are not prohibited by law. Prohibits transfers of: automatic weapons that are not suitable for law enforcement purposes; weapons of .50 caliber or greater; tactical vehicles, including highly mobile multi-wheeled vehicles, armored vehicles, and mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles; armored or weaponized drones; aircraft that are combat configured or combat coded, or that have no established commercial flight application; grenades and similar explosives; silencers; and long range acoustic devices. Prohibits transfers conditioned upon the agency demonstrating the use of any small arms or ammunitions. Requires the Secretary to ensure that certain items are not transferred from one federal or state agency to another such agency. Prohibits obligations or expenditures of appropriations to carry out the DOD's property transfer program unless specified conditions have been met, including requirements to verify: (1) that in-person inventories of transferred property have been conducted at each agency, and (2) that 100% of such property was accounted for during the inventories or that agencies unable to account for such property have been suspended from the program. Requires the Defense Logistics Agency to maintain an Internet website that makes available publicly a description of: (1) each transfer broken down by state, county, and recipient; and (2) during the 30-day period preceding the date on which any property is transferred, the property to be transferred and the recipient.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Last Action Date: September 16, 2014
Title: ATF Elimination Act
Description: ATF Elimination Act
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 28, 2014
Title: FIREARM Act
Description: FIREARM Act - Prohibits the federal government from requiring disclosure of the race or ethnicity of a person to whom a firearm is transferred.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 28, 2014
Title: Homemade Firearms Accountability Act of 2014
Description: Homemade Firearms Accountability Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Last Action Date: October 28, 2014
Title: Vessel Incidental Discharge Act
Description: Vessel Incidental Discharge Act
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
Last Action Date: September 19, 2014
Title: DISASTER Act
Description: DISASTER Act
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
Last Action Date: September 19, 2014
Title: Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2014
Description: Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2014 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to revise requirements for the audit capacity of voting systems, particularly those for a permanent paper record. Requires the voting system to require the use of an individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be marked and made available for inspection by the voter before the voter's vote is cast and counted, and which shall be counted by hand or read by an optical scanner or other counting device. Requires the voting system to provide the voter with an opportunity to correct any system-made error in the voter-verified paper ballot before it is permanently preserved. Requires each paper ballot used to be: (1) suitable for a manual audit, and (2) counted by hand in any recount or audit conducted with respect to any federal election. Sets forth a special rule for treatment of disputes when paper ballots have been shown to be compromised. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. Specifies additional voting system requirements and prohibitions. Requires the NSF Director to make grants to eligible entities to conduct research on the development of election-dedicated voting system software. Makes available additional funding to enable states to meet the costs of the requirements imposed by this Act. Provides for complaints to the Attorney General by persons aggrieved by violations of HAVA. Requires each state to administer audits of federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected, consisting of random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots. Makes an exception from this requirement for elections in which the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the vote total. Prescribes requirements for determination of the number of ballots counted under the audit. Prescribes the process for administering audits. Requires the Election Auditor of a state, as soon as practicable after the completion of an audit, to submit the results to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for publication. Prohibits certification of the results of any election until completion of audits. Provides for payments to states for the costs of conducting audits. Exempts from this Act any election for which a recount under state law will commence before certification of the election results. Repeals the EAC's exemption from certain federal government contracting requirements.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.
Last Action Date: December 11, 2014
Title: To authorize the direct provision of defense articles, defense services, and related training to the Kurdistan Regional Government, and for other purposes.
Description: Expresses the sense of Congress that: defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is critical to maintaining a unified Iraq in which all faiths and ethnicities are afforded equal protection and full integration into the government and society; the people of Kurdistan face a deadly threat from ISIL which the Iraqi Security Forces, of which the Peshmerga are a component, are currently unable to match in armaments; any outstanding issues between the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional government (KRG) should be resolved expeditiously to allow for a resumption of normal relations; and ISIL's continued growth presents an imminent threat to Iraqi Kurdistan, the rest of Iraq and the Middle East, and international security. Authorizes the President to: (1) provide defense articles, defense services, and related training directly to the KRG to support international coalition efforts against ISIL or any successor group; and (2) issue licenses authorizing U.S. exporters to export defense articles, defense services, and related training directly to the KRG. Prohibits the provision of any defense article, service, or related training to the KRG under this Act unless the KRG agrees that it will not: provide any such defense article, service, or training to anyone who is not a KRG officer, employee, or agent; or use or permit the use of any such defense article, service, or training for purposes other than those for which it was provided, unless the President's consent has been obtained.
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Last Action Date: November 20, 2014
Title: Heller Public Firearms Range Act of 2014
Description: Heller Public Firearms Range Act of 2014 - Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to include the District of Columbia in the apportionment to states and U.S. territories and possessions of revenues from taxes imposed on pistols, revolvers, bows, and arrows. Revises specified payments authority to: (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the Mayor of the District in conducting wildlife restoration projects and hunter safety programs; (2) authorize payments to the District out of funds made available under the Act for such purposes; and (3) limit the amount of such payments to one-half of 1% of the total amount apportioned to states, territories, and possessions for any year. Requires the Secretary to use amounts in the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund (FAWRF) to make a limited grant in FY2015 to the Mayor for construction and operation of an indoor public target range for firearm users in the District. Requires the Secretary to construct and operate the target range on suitable federal land within the District using FAWRF funds and such grant amount or from other sources, if the Mayor fails to apply for the grant within 90 days after enactment of this Act or fails to construct a target range with it within one year after the enactment.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs.
Last Action Date: December 2, 2014
Title: Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014
Description: Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 - Directs the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against: Rosoboronexport; an entity owned by the government of the Russian Federation or controlled by its nationals that transfers or manufactures or sells defense articles transferred to, Syria or into the territory of a specified country without its government's consent; or a person that knowingly sponsors or provides financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, such an entity. Directs the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against a person that makes a significant investment in a special Russian crude oil project. Authorizes the President to impose additional licensing requirements or other restrictions on the export of items for Russia's energy sector. Directs the President to impose specified sanctions on Gazprom if it is withholding significant natural gas supplies from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, or further withholds significant natural gas supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova. Sets forth sanctions against a foreign person, including executive officers of an entity, relating to: Export-Import Bank of the United States assistance, executive agency procurement, arms and dual-use item exports, U.S. property transactions, banking transactions, investing in or purchasing equity or debt instruments, and U.S. entry prohibition or visa revocation. Excludes import sanctions from the authority to block and prohibit U.S. property transactions. Authorizes the President to impose a prohibition on the opening, and a prohibition or the imposition of strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly engages in significant transactions involving sanctioned persons. Authorizes the President to provide Ukraine with defense articles, services, and training. Directs the Secretary of State (Secretary) to submit a plan to Congress to meet the need for protection of and assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. Directs the President to use U.S. influence at United Nations (U.N.) voluntary agencies to support assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. Urges the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to assist Ukrainian defense sector entities reorient exports from Russian Federation customers to alternative markets in the Ukrainian defense sector that have already significantly reduced exports to and cooperation with Russian defense sector entities. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to work with Ukrainian officials to develop an emergency energy assistance plan to help Ukraine address the potentially severe heating fuel and electricity shortages facing Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. Directs the Secretary to work with Ukrainian officials to increase energy security by helping Ukraine reduce its dependence on natural gas imported from the Russian Federation. Directs: the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to prioritize support for investments to increase energy efficiency, develop domestic oil and natural gas reserves, and develop renewable energy sources in Ukraine; and the President to use U.S. influence to encourage the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international financial institutions to invest in and stimulate private investment in such projects. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) strengthen democratic civil society in Ukraine, (2) support independent media outlets, and (3) counter government corruption and improve accountability. Directs the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to submit to Congress a plan for increasing and maintaining the quantity of Russian-language broadcasting into the countries of the former Soviet Union in order to counter Russian Federation propaganda. Directs the Secretary to: (1) improve and strengthen democratic institutions and political and civil society organizations in the Russian Federation, and (2) expand uncensored Internet and independent media access. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) hold the Russian Federation accountable for being in violation of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and (2) demand that the Russian Federation eliminate the military systems that constitute such violation. States that nothing in this Act shall be construed as an authorization for the use of military force.
Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
Last Action Date: December 18, 2014
Title: Grand Jury Reform Act of 2014
Description: Grand Jury Reform Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Last Action Date: December 10, 2014
Title: Police Accountability Act of 2014
Description: Police Accountability Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Last Action Date: December 10, 2014
Title: Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014
Description: Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 - (Sec. 3) States that it is U.S. policy to assist the government of Ukraine in restoring its sovereignty and territorial integrity in order to deter the government of the Russian Federation from further destabilizing and invading Ukraine and other independent countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. (Sec. 4) Directs the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against: Rosoboronexport; an entity owned by the government of the Russian Federation or controlled by its nationals that transfers or brokers the transfer to, or knowingly manufactures or sells defense articles transferred to, Syria or into the territory of a specified country without its government's consent; or a person (individual or entity) that knowingly sponsors or provides financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, such an entity. Defines "specified country" as Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, or any other country of significant concern for purposes of this Act, such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Central Asia republics. Authorizes the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against a person that knowingly makes a significant investment in a special Russian crude oil project. Authorizes the President, through the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce or the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury, to impose additional licensing requirements or other restrictions on the export of items for Russia's energy sector, including equipment used for tertiary oil recovery. Directs the President to impose specified sanctions on Gazprom if it is withholding significant natural gas supplies from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, or further withholds significant natural gas supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova. Sets forth sanctions against a foreign person, including executive officers of an entity, relating to: Export-Import Bank of the United States assistance, executive agency procurement, arms and dual-use item exports, U.S. property transactions, banking transactions, investing in or purchasing equity or debt instruments, and U.S. entry prohibition or visa revocation. Excludes import sanctions from the authority to block and prohibit U.S. property transactions. Sets forth the conditions under which the President shall not be required to apply or maintain the sanctions with respect to: procurement of defense articles or services; products, technology, or services provided under contracts entered into before the date on which the President publishes in the Federal Register the name of a sanctioned person; spare or component parts essential to U.S. products or production, or to the servicing and maintenance of U.S. products; information and technology essential to U.S. products or production; or food, medicine, medical devices, or agricultural commodities. Authorizes the President to waive the application of sanctions, or waive sanctions for a specific transaction, for purposes of U.S. national security, and with congressional notification. Applies specified penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to violations of this section. Terminates sanctions under this section upon the President's certification to Congress that the Russian Federation has ceased directing, supporting, or financing significant acts intended to undermine the peace, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine, including through an agreement between the appropriate parties. States that such termination date shall not apply to defense article transfers into Syria or related sanctions. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the President to impose a prohibition on the opening, and a prohibition or the imposition of strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly: engages in significant transactions involving sanctioned persons; or with respect to the Ukrainian crisis, facilitated a significant financial transaction on behalf of any Russian person included on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Authorizes the President to waive the application of sanctions against a foreign financial institution for purposes of U.S. national security, and with congressional notification. Applies specified penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to violations of this section. Terminates sanctions under this section upon the President's certification to Congress that the Russian Federation has ceased directing, supporting, or financing significant acts intended to undermine the peace, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine, including through an agreement between the appropriate parties. (Sec. 6) Authorizes: the President to provide Ukraine with defense articles, services, and training in order to counter offensive weapons and reestablish its sovereignty and territorial integrity; and FY2015-FY2017 appropriations. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of State (Secretary) to submit a plan to Congress to meet the need for protection of and assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. Directs the President to use U.S. influence at United Nations (U.N.) voluntary agencies to support assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. Urges the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to assist Ukrainian defense sector entities reorient exports from Russian Federation customers to alternative markets in the Ukrainian defense sector that have already significantly reduced exports to and cooperation with Russian defense sector entities. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to work with Ukrainian officials to develop an emergency energy assistance plan to help Ukraine address the potentially severe heating fuel and electricity shortages facing Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. Directs the Secretary to work with Ukrainian officials to increase energy security by helping Ukraine reduce its dependence on natural gas imported from the Russian Federation. Authorizes FY2016-FY2018 appropriations for such activities. Directs: the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to prioritize support for investments to increase energy efficiency, develop domestic oil and natural gas reserves, and develop renewable energy sources in Ukraine; and the President to use U.S. influence to encourage the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international financial institutions to invest in and stimulate private investment in such projects. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) strengthen democratic civil society in Ukraine, (2) support independent media outlets, and (3) counter government corruption and improve accountability. Authorizes FY2016 appropriations for such activities. (Sec. 8) Directs the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to submit to Congress a plan for increasing and maintaining through FY2017 the quantity of Russian-language broadcasting into the countries of the former Soviet Union in order to counter Russian Federation propaganda. Requires such plan to prioritize broadcasting into Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova by the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Authorizes FY2016-FY2018 appropriations for the Broadcasting Board of Governors for such activities. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to: (1) improve and strengthen democratic institutions and political and civil society organizations in the Russian Federation, and (2) expand uncensored Internet and independent media access. Authorizes FY2016-FY2018 appropriations for such activities. (Sec. 10) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) hold the Russian Federation accountable for being in violation of its obligations under the The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; and (2) demand that the Russian Federation verifiably eliminate the military systems that constitute such violation. (Sec. 11) States that nothing in this Act shall be construed as an authorization for the use of military force.
Last Action: Became Public Law No: 113-272.
Last Action Date: December 18, 2014
Title: Federal Protective Service Parity Act of 2014
Description: Federal Protective Service Parity Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Last Action Date: December 11, 2014
Title: FPS Improvement Act of 2014
Description: FPS Improvement Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Last Action Date: December 11, 2014
Title: National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2014
Description: National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2014
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Last Action Date: December 11, 2014