hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the designation of State approving agencies for multi-State apprenticeship programs for purposes of the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Bill: 115-s-1936
Sponsor: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: This bill provides that the state approving agency for a multi-state non-federal apprenticeship program is: (1) for program approval purposes, the state approving agency for the state in which the headquarters of the apprenticeship program is located; and (2) for all other purposes, the state approving agency for the state in which the apprenticeship program takes place. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Border Security and Deferred Action Recipient Relief Act

Bill: 115-s-1937
Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Border security and unlawful immigration
California
Citizenship and naturalization
Congressional oversight
Crimes against property
Department of Homeland Security
Detention of persons
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Evidence and witnesses
Foreign labor
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government studies and investigations
Government trust funds
Human trafficking
Immigration status and procedures
Judicial review and appeals
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Latin America
Law enforcement officers
Mexico
Military personnel and dependents
Motor vehicles
Organized crime
Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
Right of privacy
Roads and highways
Texas
Violent crime
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Border Security and Deferred Action Recipient Relief Act

 
This bill establishes the Border Security Trust Fund, which shall make funds available for: (1) specified border fencing and wall procurement, construction, and improvements in Texas and California; and (2) border wall planning activities. 
 
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may cancel removal of, and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis for up to 10 years to, qualifying resident aliens who: (1) have been continuously physically present in the United States since January 1, 2012; (2) were under 16 years old on the initial date of U.S. entry or, if 18 years or older when filing under this bill, have met certain educational, employment, or military requirements; (3) are not inadmissible or deportable on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) have not participated in persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; and (5) have not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses. Such an alien may subsequently adjust to permanent resident status and become eligible for naturalization.
 
DHS may designate as a criminal gang or cartel a group, club, organization, or association comprised of five or more individuals that has as a primary purpose the commission of one or more specified criminal offenses and whose members engage in, or, during the five years immediately preceding the most recent commission of such an offense, have engaged in, a continuing series of such offenses.
 
The bill makes persons associated with gangs or cartels inadmissible or deportable.
 
 DHS shall complete the construction of roads along the southern border to facilitate U.S. Customs and Border Protection access.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S6362-6363)
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Stronger Way Act

Bill: 115-s-1938
Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Employment and training programs
Income tax credits
Inflation and prices
Poverty and welfare assistance
Tax treatment of families
Unemployment
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Stronger Way Act

 
This bill requires the Department of Labor to establish a program, through grant agreements with state and local government agencies, that provides eligible unemployed or partially-employed individuals with opportunities to work in a transitional job for the purpose of enabling them to gain, through wage-paying jobs, the experience and skills needed to move into regular employment.
 
The bill also amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the formula for the earned income tax credit and make the child tax credit fully refundable.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act

Bill: 115-s-1939
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Firearms and explosives
Manufacturing
Product safety and quality

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act

 
This bill amends the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to repeal provisions that prohibit civil actions against a firearm or ammunition manufacturer, seller, importer, dealer, or trade association for the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Keep America's Refuges Operational Act

Bill: 115-s-1940
Sponsor: Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Department of the Interior
Executive agency funding and structure
Public-private cooperation
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Keep America's Refuges Operational Act

 
This bill amends the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to reauthorize through FY2022: (1) the volunteer services, community partnerships, and national wildlife refuge education programs of the National Wildlife Refuge System; and (2) provisions authorizing the Department of the Interior to accept and use gifts, devises, or bequests of real and personal property for the benefit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the performance of its activities and services. 
 
The bill eliminates the prohibition on the use for the operation or administration of any nonfederal entity of any federal funds that are used for a project or program for a national wildlife refuge or a complex of geographically related refuges under a cooperative agreement between Interior and a partner organization, academic institution, state or local government agency, or other person under the community partnerships program. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to clarify the treatment of authentic Alaska Native articles of handicraft containing nonedible migratory bird parts, and for other purposes.

Bill: 115-s-1941
Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Art, artists, authorship
Birds
Indian lands and resources rights
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 
This bill amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to provide that nothing in such Actprohibits possessing, selling, bartering, purchasing, shipping, and transporting any authentic Alaska Native handicraft, clothing, or art on the basis that it contains a nonedible migratory bird part, so long as the bird was not taken in a wasteful manner.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Caribbean Trade Extension Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1943
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Caribbean area
Manufacturing
Tariffs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Caribbean Trade Extension Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to extend preferential duty treatment related to certain apparel items through FY2030. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Disaster Income Assistance Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1944
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Disaster Income Assistance Act of 2017

 
This bill amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to waive the 30-day residency requirement with respect to SSI benefits for an individual who evacuates from an emergency area in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Under current law, an individual who has been outside of the United States for 30 consecutive days is generally ineligible to receive SSI benefits until the individual has returned to the United States and resided there for 30 consecutive days.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Keep Americans Safe Act

Bill: 115-s-1945
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Firearms and explosives
Law enforcement administration and funding
Retail and wholesale trades
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Keep Americans Safe Act

 
This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD).
 
The bill does not prohibit, with respect to an LCAFD:
 
 
 importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments; 
 
importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and 
 
 possession by a retired law enforcement officer.
 
 
The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD.
 
Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification and the date of manufacture.
 
 The bill also amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender an LCAFD under a buy-back program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6366-6367)
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow unpopulated census tracts that are contiguous to low-income communities to be treated as low-income communities under the new markets tax credit.

Bill: 115-s-1946
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a census tract that has a population of zero and is contiguous to one or more low-income communities to be treated as a low-income community for the purpose of the new markets tax credit. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Local FARMS Act

Bill: 115-s-1947
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Aging
Agricultural education
Agricultural marketing and promotion
Agricultural practices and innovations
Agricultural research
Elementary and secondary education
Food assistance and relief
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Government lending and loan guarantees
Licensing and registrations
Livestock
Meat
Nutrition and diet
Public-private cooperation
Rural conditions and development
Solid waste and recycling
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Local Food And Regional Market Supply Act or the Local FARMS Act 

 
This bill consolidates, modifies, and authorizes several Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs to expand regional or local food markets and implement food safety practices.
 
The bill authorizes and provides mandatory funding for a new Agricultural Market Development Program that is administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and consolidates:
 
 
the Farmers' Market and Local Food Promotion Program, 
 
Value-Added Producer Grants,
 
regional food chain coordination, and
 
public-private partnerships to plan and develop regional food systems.
 
 
The bill modifies the Food Safety Outreach Program to move the program to the AMS, provide mandatory funding, and expand the project priorities.
 
The bill also:
 
 
establishes a national food safety cost-share program; 
 
 reauthorizes the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program; 
 
 authorizes rural development grants and loans to be used for meat, dairy, and poultry processing infrastructure; 
 
 allows institutions participating in the school food programs to use locally grown, locally raised, or locally caught as a product specification; 
 
 authorizes grants for produce prescription programs for low-income individuals and households; and 
 
 reauthorizes the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and expands eligibility to include low-income veterans.
 
 
The bill modifies the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program to: (1) require the majority of funds to be reserved for national or regional programs involving multiple states, and (2) expand the purposes of the program to include food waste reduction. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to abrogate the sovereign immunity of Indian tribes as a defense in inter partes review of patents.

Bill: 115-s-1948
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Federal-Indian relations
Intellectual property
Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 
This bill prohibits an Indian tribe from asserting sovereign immunity as a defense in an inter partes review of the validity of a patent.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
AHEAD Act

Bill: 115-s-1949
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Affordable Housing for Educational Achievement Demonstration Act or the AHEAD Act

 
This bill requires the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Community Development to jointly award competitive grants to specified partnerships for demonstration projects that (1) improve academic achievement and life outcomes for children from low-income families; and (2) either increase socioeconomic or racial diversity in one or more local educational agencies or create housing and educational stability for homeless children and youths, or both. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1950
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Rural conditions and development
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2017

 
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to submit to Congress a report on promoting broadband Internet access service for veterans, in particular low-income veterans and veterans residing in rural areas. 
 
In preparing the report, the FCC shall provide the public with notice and an opportunity to comment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Veteran Wellness Act

Bill: 115-s-1951
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Child care and development
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health promotion and preventive care
Veterans' medical care
Veterans' organizations and recognition

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Veteran Wellness Act

 
 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a two-year pilot program under which the VA makes grants to nonprofit veterans services organizations (VSOs), such as the American National Red Cross, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the United Spanish War Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to: (1) upgrade their community facilities into health and wellness centers in at least 10 different geographic locations, and (2) promote and expand complementary and integrative wellness programs. 
 
In selecting grant recipients, the VA shall give priority to recipients that will use grant amounts in locations in economically depressed areas that are not in close proximity to VA medical centers. 
 
A VSO, as a condition of receiving a grant, must agree to carry out the operation and maintenance of a facility that is repaired or constructed using grant funds for three years after completion of the repair or construction.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Accountability Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-1952
Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Accountability Act of 2017

 
This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the normal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) budget process should be grounded in sound actuarial analysis based on accurate demand forecasting, (2) the regular VA budget process should be the norm, and (3) supplemental requests for appropriations should be used sparingly and for unforeseen demand or natural occurrences. 
 
The VA shall contract with an independent third party to: (1) to review and audit the VA's financial processes, including reporting structures and actuarial and estimation models; (2) develop recommendations to improve such structures; and (3) complete such review and development within 180 days of entering into the contract.
 
The VA shall submit an implementation plan to Congress within 60 days after completion of the review and development.
 
The VA shall appoint one individual within the Office of the VA Secretary to monitor the implementation of third party recommendations.
 
Whenever the VA submits to Congress a request for supplemental appropriations or other appropriation outside the standard budget process the VA shall submit a justification for the request within 45 days before the date that such budgetary issue would affect a program or service.
 
Concurrent with the President's annual budget request to Congress the VA Chief Financial Officer shall submit to Congress: (1) an assurance that budgetary financial projections are sufficient to provide VA benefits and services, and (2) an attestation of collaboration with the financial officers of the concerned facilities and components. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-08-01
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-616.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2018

Bill: 115-s-1953
Sponsor: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND]
Introduced: 2017-10-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Crime prevention
Crime victims
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Detention of persons
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal-Indian relations
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Indian lands and resources rights
Indian social and development programs
Intergovernmental relations
Judicial procedure and administration
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
Lawyers and legal services
Mental health
Smuggling and trafficking
Violent crime

Summary:
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: 

Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, and other laws to: (1) establish, or reauthorize through FY2022 and revise, various public safety programs and services for Indian communities (e.g., law enforcement, alcohol and substance abuse prevention, and control of illegal narcotics); and (2) modify provisions, and reauthorize through FY2022 various programs, related to Indian youth and juvenile justice.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-12-13
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 732.
action_date: 2018-12-13
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Hoeven with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-433.
action_date: 2018-12-13
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Hoeven with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-433.
action_date: 2018-02-14
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2017-10-25
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-329.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2017-10-05
text: Introduced in Senate