hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
FAIR Act

Bill: 115-s-642
Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Currency
Customs enforcement
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Evidence and witnesses
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government trust funds

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2017 or the FAIR Act 

 
This bill modifies general rules governing civil forfeiture proceedings to: (1) ensure that a person contesting a civil forfeiture has legal representation without regard to whether the property subject to forfeiture is being used by such person as a primary residence; (2) increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence; (3) require the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and an offense, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property used the property with intent to facilitate the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense; and (4) expand the proportionality criteria used by a court to determine whether a civil forfeiture was constitutionally excessive. 
 
To remove incentives for carrying out civil forfeitures, the bill requires proceeds from the disposition of seized property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice accounts for law enforcement activities. 
 
The bill adds a 
mens rea
 requirement (i.e., a knowing violation) to the prohibition against structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.
 
 A court shall conduct a probable cause hearing to determine if there is a violation of the prohibition against structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements involving a monetary instrument and to return such instrument if probable cause is not established.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-643
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Evidence and witnesses
Federal appellate courts
Federal district courts
Judicial procedure and administration
Photography and imaging
Sound recording
Supreme Court
Television and film

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of
 
2017

 
This bill authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides, except when it would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party.
 
Upon the request of any witness in a trial proceeding other than a party, a district court must order the face and voice of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured to render the witness unrecognizable to the broadcast audience of the trial proceeding. The presiding judge in a trial proceeding must inform each witness who is not a party of the right to make such request. 
 
A presiding judge may obscure the face and voice of an individual if good cause is shown that photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising such features would threaten the individual's safety, the court's security, the integrity of future or ongoing law enforcement operations, or the interest of justice.
 
The bill prohibits a presiding judge from permitting the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising of any juror in a trial proceeding, or of the jury selection process. 
 
The bill terminates a district court's authority under this bill three years after its enactment.
 
The Judicial Conference of the United States must promulgate mandatory guidelines that a presiding judge must follow for obscuring certain vulnerable witnesses. 
 
The bill prohibits any audio pickup or broadcast of conferences which occur in a court proceeding between attorneys and their clients, co-counsel of a client, adverse counsel, or counsel and the presiding judge, if the conferences are not part of the official record of the proceedings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1845)
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Medgar Evers House Study Act

Bill: 115-s-644
Sponsor: Sen. Cochran, Thad [R-MS]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Government studies and investigations
Historic sites and heritage areas
Land use and conservation
Mississippi
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Racial and ethnic relations
U.S. history

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Medgar Evers House Study Act

 
 This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the home of the late civil rights activist Medgar Evers, which is located at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. 
 
 Interior shall: (1) evaluate the national significance of the site, and (2) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of the National Park System. 

action_date: 2017-05-09
text: 

Medgar Evers House Study Act

 
 (Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the home of the late civil rights activist Medgar Evers, which is located at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. 
 
 Interior shall: (1) evaluate the national significance of the study area; (2) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of the National Park System; and (3) consider alternatives for preservation, protection, and interpretation of the study area by the federal government, state or local governments, or private and nonprofit organizations. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-05-09
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 59.
action_date: 2017-05-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-46.
action_date: 2017-05-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-46.
action_date: 2017-03-30
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Justice for Servicemembers and Veterans Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-646
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Civil actions and liability
Disability and paralysis
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Evidence and witnesses
Government liability
Government studies and investigations
Housing finance and home ownership
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Jurisdiction and venue
Lawyers and legal services
Lease and rental services
Licensing and registrations
Merit Systems Protection Board
Military personnel and dependents
Motor vehicles
National Guard and reserves
Separation, divorce, custody, support
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Justice for Servicemembers and Veterans Act of 2017

 
 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to initiate an action for relief in a service member's employment or reemployment rights action with respect to: (1) a private or state employer, or (2) a state or private employer that is engaged in a pattern or practice to infringe upon such rights. 
 
 The bill provides that: (1) a person may bring an action against a state, state instrumentality, or state officer or employee acting in his or her official capacity in U.S. district court or state court (currently, only in state court), and (2) the state employer shall not be immune from such action under the Eleventh Amendment or under any other doctrine of sovereign immunity. 
 
No such state, instrumentality, officer, or employee that receives or uses federal financial assistance for a program or activity shall be immune under the Eleventh Amendment or under any other doctrine of sovereign immunity from suit in federal or state court for any employment rights violation related to such program or activity.
 
The bill expands judicial venues for an action against a private employer.
 
DOJ may issue civil investigative demands in the enforcement of employment and reemployment rights of members of uniformed services with respect to states and private employers. 
 
Service-related disability coverage is extended. 
 
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended to revise protective provisions for service members regarding: (1) default judgments, including the requirement that a court shall not enter a judgment until it appoints an attorney for the defendant; (2) termination of residential and motor vehicle leases upon relocation; (3) DOJ issuance of civil investigative demands; and (4) vacating or setting aside judgments.
 
 The bill provides for the portability of professional licenses of service members and their spouses who are relocated under military orders.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Mandatory Arbitration Transparency Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-647
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
Civil actions and liability
Consumer affairs
Contracts and agency
Employment discrimination and employee rights

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Mandatory Arbitration Transparency Act of 2017

 
This bill prohibits predispute arbitration agreements from containing a confidentiality clause regarding an employment, consumer, or civil rights dispute that could be interpreted to prohibit a party from: (1) making a communication in a manner such that the prohibition would violate a whistle-blower statute; or (2) reporting or making a communication about tortious conduct, unlawful conduct, or issues of public policy or public concern. But the prohibition shall not apply if a party can demonstrate a confidentiality interest that significantly outweighs the private and public interest in disclosure.
 
The validity or enforceability of such an agreement to arbitrate shall be determined by a court, under federal law, rather than by an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract containing such agreement.
 
The bill does not apply to contracts between an employer and a labor organization or between labor organizations, except that no such arbitration provision shall waive the right of an employee to seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under the U.S. Constitution, a state constitution, a federal or state statute, or related public policy.
 
The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce against violations by persons offering such agreements, which shall be treated as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under Federal Trade Commission Act. The bill also allows private rights of action by any persons aggrieved by a violation. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Computer Science Career Education Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-648
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Computers and information technology
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Educational technology and distance education
Elementary and secondary education
Higher education
Minority education
Public-private cooperation
Science and engineering education
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Computer Science Career Education Act of 2017

 
This bill directs the Department of Education to award competitive grants to consortia composed of at least one local educational agency, at least one institution of higher education (IHE), and community representatives for the development and operation of four- or six-year computer science career education programs.
 
Each such career education program must include the development of a computer science program for both secondary and postsecondary education that:
 
 
is aligned with rigorous computer science standards for kindergarten through grade 12 computer science education;
 
links secondary schools and IHEs through non-duplicative sequences of courses in computer science career fields;
 
uses, if appropriate and available, experiential or work-based learning in collaboration with local or regional employers;
 
uses educational technology and distance learning to involve all members of the consortium more fully in the development and operation of the programs;
 
aligns with industry needs in the state or region; and
 
creates innovative opportunities for students that lead to attainment of industry-recognized credentials.
 
 
A program must also provide: (1) professional development for teachers, (2) career and academic counseling for students, and (3) equal access to the full range of career education programs to members of underrepresented groups and special populations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Cameras in the Courtroom Act

Bill: 115-s-649
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Due process and equal protection
Supreme Court
Television and film

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Cameras in the Courtroom Act

 
This bill requires the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court unless it decides by majority vote that allowing such coverage in a particular case would violate the due process rights of any of the parties involved.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1846)
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-651
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Government information and archives
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to require the posting online of any contract, subcontract, purchase order, task order, or delivery order for the procurement of property or services with a value greater than the simplified acquisition threshold (covered contract).
 
The website established pursuant to such Act, containing information on each federal award of federal financial assistance and expenditures, shall include a machine readable, searchable copy of each covered contract entered into by a federal agency after the date of this bill's enactment. 
 
A contractor may request to redact any national security sensitive or classified information or trade secrets or other proprietary information from such a contract. The federal contracting official shall determine the extent to which redaction is appropriate in accordance with Office of Management and Budget guidance. Any information required to be made available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act may not be redacted.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Career and Technical Education State Flexibility Act

Bill: 115-s-653
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Education programs funding
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Career and Technical Education State Flexibility Act

 
This bill amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to revise maintenance of effort requirements for a state to receive fiscal year career and technical education (CTE) funding allotments. In order for a state to receive its full allotment for any applicable fiscal year, its fiscal effort per student, or its aggregate expenditures, for CTE funding for the preceding fiscal year must be at least 80% of such fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year.
 
The bill: (1) requires such maintenance of effort requirement to be inapplicable for the first two fiscal years after this bill's enactment; and (2) allows the state, after enactment of this bill, to establish a new required level of fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditures.
 
The Department of Education (ED) shall: (1) exclude competitive or incentive-based programs established by the state in computing such required fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures, and (2) reduce the amount of a state's CTE funding allotment for any applicable fiscal year in the exact proportion by which the state falls below the required 80% threshold. ED may waive such reduction due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances affecting the state's ability to meet such maintenance of effort requirement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
PACT Act

Bill: 115-s-654
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Crimes against animals and natural resources
Digital media
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Photography and imaging
Television and film

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act
 
or the PACT Act

 
This bill amends the federal criminal code to revise and expand provisions with respect to animal crushing.
 
It retains existing criminal offenses that prohibit knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video using interstate commerce. The bill also adds a new provision to criminalize an intentional act of animal crushing. A violator is subject to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both.
 
It provides additional exceptions for conduct, or a video of conduct, including conduct that is: (1) medical or scientific research, (2) necessary to protect the life or property of a person, (3) performed as part of euthanizing an animal, or (4) unintentional.

action_date: 2017-12-14
text: 
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
 

Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act
 
or the PACT Act

 
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the federal criminal code to revise and expand provisions with respect to animal crushing.
 
It retains existing criminal offenses that prohibit knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video using interstate commerce. The bill also adds a new provision to criminalize an intentional act of animal crushing. A violator is subject to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both.
 
It provides additional exceptions for conduct, or a video of conduct, including conduct that is: (1) medical or scientific research, (2) necessary to protect the life or property of a person, (3) performed as part of euthanizing an animal, or (4) unintentional.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-12-15
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-12-15
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2017-12-14
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2017-12-14
text: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S8049)
action_date: 2017-12-14
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S8049)
action_date: 2017-12-14
text: Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8049)
action_date: 2017-12-14
text: Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S8049)
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Future Logging Careers Act

Bill: 115-s-655
Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Child safety and welfare
Family relationships
Forests, forestry, trees
Labor standards
Worker safety and health
Youth employment and child labor

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Future Logging Careers Act 

 
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to employment of an employee age 16 or 17 by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, in a logging operation owned or operated by that parent or person.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate
Social Security Disability Insurance Return to Work Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-656
Sponsor: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Introduced: 2017-03-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Disability assistance
Government trust funds
Health information and medical records
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Social Security Administration

Summary:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: 

Social Security Disability Insurance Return to Work Act of 2017

 
This bill (1) directs the Social Security Administration (SSA) to establish new disability classifications under the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program; (2) limits OASDI benefits with respect to individuals for whom medical improvement is deemed likely or expected; (3) requires the SSA to establish a process for such individuals to return to employment and receive an adjusted benefit amount; and (4) otherwise modifies provisions related to OASDI benefits.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2017-03-15
text: Introduced in Senate