hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Border Health Security Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1537
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Arizona
Building construction
California
Canada
Cancer
Chemical and biological weapons
Child health
Crime prevention
Dental care
Domestic violence and child abuse
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Emergency communications systems
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Emergency planning and evacuation
Employment and training programs
Environmental health
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Indian social and development programs
Infectious and parasitic diseases
International organizations and cooperation
Latin America
Medical research
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Mental health
Mexico
Minority health
New Mexico
Nutrition and diet
Sex and reproductive health
Terrorism
Texas
Violent crime
Women's health
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Border Health Security Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to require the commission to cooperate with the Canada-United States Pan-Border Public Health Preparedness Council and to recommend and implement initiatives that solve border health issues. Members of the commission may provide advice or recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or Congress without authorization or a request.
 
HHS must award grants: (1) to address the priorities and recommendations of the commission and council to improve the health of border area residents, and (2) for infectious disease surveillance activities in border areas.
 
Every five years, the commission and the council must each prepare a binational strategic plan that includes priority areas, recommendations to address these priority areas, and an evaluation framework to gauge progress.
 The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response may coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security in establishing a system that alerts clinicians and public health officials to emerging health threats in border areas.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Stop Child Summer Hunger Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1539
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Child health
Elementary and secondary education
Food assistance and relief
Nutrition and diet
Poverty and welfare assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Stop Child Summer Hunger Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Department of Agriculture to establish a program providing eligible households with summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards in order to give children access to food during the summer months to: (1) reduce or eliminate children's food insecurity and hunger, and (2) improve their nutritional status.
 
An &quot;eligible household&quot; is a household that includes one or more children who are eligible to receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs.
 
The amount on each summer EBT card is set at $150 per child in 2017, with adjustments thereafter reflecting changes in reimbursement rates for school meals under the school lunch program.
 
If children are enrolled to receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs, they must be enrolled in this program without further application.
 
Summer EBT cards may be used only to purchase food from retail food stores that have been approved for participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Robocall and Call Spoofing Enforcement Improvements Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1540
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Business records
Civil actions and liability
Consumer affairs
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Robocall and Call Spoofing Enforcement Improvements Act of 2015

 
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to impose forfeiture penalties without first sending a citation regarding the charged violation against persons not licensed by the FCC who violate prohibitions on the use of automated telephone equipment. (Currently, if existing exceptions do not apply, forfeiture penalties may not be imposed unless the person is sent a citation prior to a notice of apparent liability and that person subsequently engages in the same type of conduct described in the citation.)
 
Expands the statute of limitations period and increases the maximum forfeiture penalty applicable to non-licensed automated telephone equipment violations.
 
Expands prohibitions on the provision of inaccurate caller identification information to persons outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States.
 
Directs providers of spoofing services to take such steps as the FCC may prescribe to verify that users do not engage in caller identification information violations. Defines "spoofing service" as a service that substitutes, or permits a user to substitute, another name or any number for display as the caller identification information for a call or text message. 
 
Requires the FCC to impose recordkeeping and reporting obligations on spoofing service providers. Authorizes the FCC to subpoena caller identification information transmitted by a subscriber to or customer of the spoofing service.
 
Expands the definition "caller identification information" to include text messages.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) telecommunications carriers have the legal authority to offer consumers services that block or filter robocalls, and (2) the federal government should encourage telecommunications carriers to develop and implement such services.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Manufacturing Skills Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1542
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Appropriations
Department of Labor
Employment and training programs
Executive agency funding and structure
Government studies and investigations
Manufacturing
Minority employment
Science and engineering education
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Manufacturing Skills Act of 2015

 
 This bill requires the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Defense and the Director of the National Science Foundation to jointly establish a Manufacturing Skills Partnership to administer and carry out a program to award competitive, three-year grants to enable up to five states and five metropolitan areas to carry out proposals to promote reforms in workforce education and skill training for manufacturing.
 
The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall: 
 
 
 acting through the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, conduct an audit of all federal education and skills training programs related to manufacturing to ensure that states and metropolitan areas are able to align federal resources with the labor demands of their primary manufacturing industries; and 
 
 work with states and metropolitan areas to determine how federal funds can be more tailored to meet their different needs.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Cuba Trade Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1543
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Agricultural trade
Caribbean area
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Cuba
Foreign aid and international relief
Human rights
Latin America
Licensing and registrations
Sanctions
Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
Terrorism
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Cuba Trade Act of 2015

 
This bill repeals or amends current laws restricting trade with Cuba. 
 
The prohibition on assistance to Cuba, and the President's authority for the embargo on Cuba, under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 are eliminated. 
 
The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate: 
 
 
presidential authority to impose sanctions against Cuban trading partners, 
 
restrictions on transactions between U.S.-owned or controlled firms and Cuba, 
 
limitations on direct shipping between Cuban and U.S. ports, and 
 
restrictions on remittances. 
 
 
 The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 is amended to eliminate: 
 
 
the enforcement of an economic embargo of Cuban provisions, and 
 
the prohibition on indirect financing of Cuba.
 
 
 The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 is amended to:
 
 
remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism subject to agricultural and medical export restrictions; 
 
eliminate the prohibition on U.S. assistance, including foreign assistance, export assistance, and any credit or guarantees being made available for exports to Cuba; 
 
eliminate the prohibition against a U.S. person's providing payment or financing terms for sales of agricultural commodities or products to Cuba; 
 
prohibit the United States from providing any foreign assistance to Cuba or any financial assistance, loans, loan guarantees, extension of credit, or other financing for exports to Cuba; and 
 
eliminate the prohibition on the U.S. entry of merchandise that is of Cuban origin is or has been located in or transported from or through Cuba, or is made or derived in whole or in part of any article which is the growth, produce, or manufacture of Cuba.
 
 
The federal government may not obligate or expend any funds to promote trade with or develop markets in Cuba, except for certain commodity promotion programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Jurassic Pork Act

Bill: 114-s-1544
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Appropriations
Congressional oversight
Department of Transportation
Executive agency funding and structure
Government information and archives
Government trust funds
Legislative rules and procedure
Roads and highways
Transportation and Public Works
Transportation programs funding

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Jurassic Pork Act 

 
This bill rescinds unused earmarks previously appropriated to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and transfers the balances to the Highway Trust Fund. 
 
Under the House and Senate rules, an earmark is a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member of Congress providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific state, locality or congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process. 
 
Under this bill, earmarks provided to DOT are unused and rescinded if more than 90% of the funding remains available for obligation at the end of the 9th fiscal year following the year the earmark was made available. DOT may delay the rescission if it determines that an additional obligation is likely to occur during the 10th year after funds were made available. 
 
The bill requires each federal agency to submit an annual report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifying: (1) each earmark for a project that is ineligible for funding, (2) projects for which funding has been made available under an earmark, and (3) projects with unobligated balances. 
 
OMB must submit to Congress and post on its website an annual report including an accounting of unobligated earmarks, rescissions resulting from this bill, and DOT earmarks scheduled to be rescinded. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to require a quarterly report by the Federal Communications Commission on the Lifeline program funded by the Universal Service Fund.

Bill: 114-s-1545
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Poverty and welfare assistance
Telecommunication rates and fees
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 
Requires the Federal Communications Commission to submit a quarterly report to Congress regarding the Lifeline program, which provides discounts on telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers. Requires the reports to include: (1) aggregate expenditures on the program; (2) a list of each payment made to a participating telecommunications carrier for the provision of service through the program, including, in the case of a participating carrier that is reimbursed for the provision of service to both wireless and wireline subscribers, the amount of the payment that corresponds to each type of service; and (3) the average cost per subscriber, across all the participating carriers, to provide the service that the program subsidizes, broken down by wireless and wireline subscribers and averaged per subscriber.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Ensuring Small Businesses Can Export Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1546
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Government lending and loan guarantees
Small Business Administration
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Ensuring Small Businesses Can Export Act of 2015

 
This bill declares that it is the policy of this Act:
 
 
 that, should the statutory authority for the export loan programs administered by the Export-Import Bank of the United States lapse, the Small Business Administration (SBA) shall serve the Bank's small business clients under existing statutory authority of the Small Business Act;
 
 to create an SBA Export Credit Insurance Program similar to the Bank's; and
 
 to ensure that small business exporters are served by SBA programs. 
 
 
The bill also amends the Small Business Act to require the SBA to establish a program to provide insurance for the exports of small businesses, including insurance against nonpayment by international buyers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Partner with Korea Act

Bill: 114-s-1547
Sponsor: Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Asia
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Foreign labor
South Korea
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

Partner with Korea Act
 
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to create an E-4 treaty trader visa category for up to 15,000 nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) each fiscal year who are coming to the United States solely to perform specialty occupation services and with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor has certified to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State that the intending employer has filed an attestation concerning U.S. worker protections with the Secretary of Labor.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1548
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2015-06-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Climate change and greenhouse gases
Coal
Corporate finance and management
Disability assistance
Employment and training programs
Government information and archives
Income tax credits
Income tax rates
Manufacturing
Oil and gas
Rural conditions and development
Sales and excise taxes
Social security and elderly assistance
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: 

American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act of 2015

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose fees on: (1) fossil fuel products producing carbon dioxide emissions, including coal, petroleum products, and natural gas; (2) fluorinated greenhouse gases; (3) emissions of any greenhouse gas from any greenhouse gas emissions source; and (4) methane emissions. 
 
Directs the Department of the Treasury to: (1) establish, implement, and report on a program to collect data on methane emissions by major non-natural sources, including emissions attributable to the extraction and distribution of coal, petroleum products, and natural gas; (2) pay a refund of fees imposed by this Act to exporters of energy-intensive manufactured goods; (3) make one $500 payment each calendar year to certain social security beneficiaries, veterans, and disabled individuals; (4) make cost mitigation grants to states to assist low-income and rural households and provide job training and worker transition assistance; and (5) establish a website to make regular disclosures concerning revenue, tax savings, and benefits attributable to this Act.
 
Reduces the maximum income tax rate on corporations to 29% of taxable income over $75,000.
 
Allows a new carbon fee offset tax credit for the lesser of: (1) 6.2% of earned income, or (2) $500.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S4031-4033)
action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Clean Water for Rural Communities Act

Bill: 114-s-1552
Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced: 2015-06-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Electric power generation and transmission
Montana
North Dakota
Rural conditions and development
Water resources funding
Water storage
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: 

Clean Water for Rural Communities Act

 
 Authorizes the Department of the Interior to carry out the projects entitled: (1) the &quot;Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System&quot; in accordance with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water System Feasibility Study, which received funding from the Bureau of Reclamation on September 1, 2010; and (2) the &quot;Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System&quot; in accordance with the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System Feasibility Report. Defines the service areas of such projects in North Dakota and Montana.
 
Directs Interior to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority and the Central Montana Regional Water Authority to provide federal assistance for the planning, design, and construction of such Water Systems. Sets forth the federal share of such costs and the authorized uses of federal funds, which exclude operation, maintenance, or replacement of the Water Systems.
 
Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available to the Dry-Redwater System a quantity of power (up to one and a half megawatt capacity) required to meet the System's pumping and incidental operation requirements between May 1 and October 31 of each year: (1) from the water intake facilities; and (2) through all pumping stations, water treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, and pipelines up to the point of delivery of water to all storage reservoirs and tanks and each entity that distributes water at retail to individual users.
 
Makes the System eligible to receive such power only if it: (1) operates on a nonprofit basis, and (2) is constructed pursuant to the cooperative agreement with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority. Provides for the purchase of additional power.
 
Makes the Authority responsible for: (1) charges for such additional power, (2) the costs of non-federal transmission and distribution system delivery and service arrangements, and (3) funding any upgrades to the transmission system owned by the Western Area Power Administration Basin Electric Power District and the Heartland Consumers Power District required to deliver power to the System.
 
Authorizes appropriations and adjustments in authorized amounts in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in development costs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-18
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-399.
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4105-4106)
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: Introduced in Senate
FRESHER Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1554
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2015-06-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Agricultural conservation and pollution
Agricultural practices and innovations
Congressional oversight
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Licensing and registrations
Oil and gas
Water quality

Summary:
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: 

Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2015 or the FRESHER Act of 2015 

 
This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to require a permit under the national pollutant discharge elimination system for discharges of stormwater runoff from: (1) mining operations; (2) oil and gas operations; or (3) transmission facilities for collecting and conveying precipitation runoff that are not contaminated by contact with any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished product, byproduct, or waste products located on the site of the operations.
 
The Department of the Interior must study stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of: (1) measurable contamination, (2) groundwater resources, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with the operations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-06-11
text: Introduced in Senate