hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to amend title 40, United States Code, to provide requirements for the disposal of surplus Federal property relating to review of bidders and post-sale responsibilities.

Bill: 115-s-894
Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Bankruptcy
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Land transfers

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 
This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA), for the purpose of ensuring settlement of a loan that was used by a member of the public to purchase federal real property that has a significant health or safety concern: (1) to identify, during the course of the ordinary bidding process, whether there is any obvious and significant indication that the prospective purchaser is incapable of settling the loan obligation or removing any health or safety conditions; and (2) if such an indication is identified, to document it and disallow the sale. 
 
If an immediate or subsequent purchaser of an asbestos-affected federal property is a debtor and transfers any of the property having significant quantities of unabated asbestos to a state or local government, GSA shall coordinate with other federal agencies to identify funding resources for asbestos abatement if such government submits a request for such coordination within 20 years after the initial sale of the affected property by the GSA. 
 
The bill defines &quot;asbestos-affected property&quot; as any federal property sold by the GSA after April 30, 2013, that contains friable asbestos and a significant overall quantity of asbestos, such that damage inflicted on the property by a natural disaster would cause significant damage to the public. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2456)
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Energy Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-895
Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Alternative and renewable resources
Chemistry
Coal
Education of the disadvantaged
Electric power generation and transmission
Elementary and secondary education
Employee hiring
Employment and training programs
Energy efficiency and conservation
Government information and archives
Higher education
Licensing and registrations
Manufacturing
Minority education
Minority employment
Nuclear power
Oil and gas
Pipelines
Public utilities and utility rates
Science and engineering education
Unemployment
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Women's education
Women's employment

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Energy Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2017

 
This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish a comprehensive program to improve education and training for energy- and manufacturing-related jobs, with emphasis on increasing the number of skilled individuals from underrepresented groups trained to work in those jobs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Bill: 115-s-896
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Hunting and fishing
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Outdoor recreation
State and local finance
Water use and supply
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 
 This bill amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The greater of 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million shall be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-897
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Appropriations
Arms control and nonproliferation
Defense spending
International law and treaties
Licensing and registrations
Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Military operations and strategy
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2017

 
This bill prohibits federal agency funds from being obligated or expended to purchase, transfer, export, or use any cluster munitions unless: (1) the submunitions of such munitions, after arming, do not result in more than 1% unexploded ordnance across the range of intended operational environments; and (2) the policy applicable to the export or transfer of such munitions specifies that they will be used only against clearly defined military targets and not in areas normally inhabited by civilians or where civilians are known to be present.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that:
 
 
the Department of Defense should ensure that the July 2008 Gates policy on cluster munitions is being fully implemented and that the United States will no longer use such munitions by the end of 2018 except in compliance with the 1% unexploded ordnance limit;
 
 the U.S. government should adopt a policy and develop a strategy to phase out the transfer, export, and use of such munitions; 
 
 any alternatives that the government develops to replace cluster munitions should be compliant with the Convention on Cluster Munitions; and 
 
 the United States should take all steps necessary to accede to such convention. 
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2456)
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act

Bill: 115-s-898
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Foreign labor
Health care coverage and access
Health personnel
Immigration status and procedures
Medical education
Rural conditions and development
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act

 
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 to extend the J-1 visa waiver program (Conrad state 30/medical services in underserved areas) through September 30, 2021. 
 
 The bill sets forth specified employment protections and contract requirements for alien physicians working in underserved areas, including: (1) a six-month status extension for a physician whose application his been denied by an oversubscribed state and who then agrees to work in an undersubscribed state, and (2) an allowable adjustment from a J-1 to an H-1B visa (specialty workers with a permitted U.S. stay of up to six years) for a physician fulfilling waiver requirements.
 
 The bill permits a state, under specified circumstances, to recapture a waiver slot lost to another state if a physician working in a health facility accepts employment with such a facility in another state.
 
 The number of alien physicians that a state may be allocated is increased from 30 to 35 per fiscal year under specified circumstances. 
 
 The bill provides for: (1) additional increases or decreases based upon demand, and (2) up to three visa waivers per fiscal year per state for physicians in academic medical centers. 
 
 Dual intent is permitted for an alien coming to the United States to receive graduate medical education or training or to take examinations required for graduate medical education or training. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act

Bill: 115-s-900
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Higher education
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act

 
This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make qualified students eligible to receive more than one Pell Grant in an award year, thus allowing year-round Pell Grants. If a student receives more than one Pell Grant in an award year, the total amount of the Pell Grants awarded to the student may exceed the maximum Federal Pell Grant available for an award year.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit any reduction in the amount of the per diem allowance to which members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps or civilian employees of the Department of Defense are entitled based on the duration of temporary duty assignments or official travel, and for other purposes.

Bill: 115-s-901
Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Defense
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Military personnel and dependents
Transportation costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 
 This bill prohibits uniformed service agencies or the Department of Defense (DOD) from altering the amount of the locality-based travel and transportation per diem allowances or reimbursements to which certain uniformed service members or civilian DOD employees are entitled based on the duration of temporary duty assignments or official travel in a locality.
 
 The bill nullifies the DOD policy implemented on November 1, 2014, regarding reductions in per diem allowances based on the duration of temporary duty assignments or civilian travel.
 
 The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 is amended to repeal the modifications to the flat rate per diem requirements for DOD military and civilian personnel on long-term temporary duty assignments. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
DHS Acquisition Authorities Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-902
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Department of Homeland Security
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Performance measurement
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

DHS Acquisition Authorities Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to designate the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) Under Secretary for Management as DHS's Chief Acquisition Officer. Such officer's duties shall include: (1) establishing acquisition policies that implement an approach that takes into account risks of failure to achieve cost, schedule, or performance parameters for all DHS components; and (2) ensuring that each major acquisition program has a DHS-approved acquisition program baseline. The bill specifies criteria governing the Under Secretary's delegation of acquisition decision authority to the relevant Component Acquisition Executive for such programs. 
 
The bill sets forth the responsibilities of DHS's Under Secretary for Science and Technology with respect to operational testing and evaluation of such programs.
 
The bill includes among the responsibilities of DHS's: (1) Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation, ensuring that acquisition program costs are in accordance with budget estimates and are affordable, or can be adequately funded, over their life cycle; and (2) Chief Information Officer, ensuring that information technology acquisitions comply with DHS's information technology management processes, technical requirements, and the Homeland Security Enterprise Architecture, providing recommendations to an acquisition review board within DHS regarding information technology programs, and developing information technology acquisition strategic guidance. 
 
The bill establishes within the Management Directorate of DHS a Program Accountability and Risk Management Office to: (1) provide consistent accountability, standardization, and transparency of major acquisition programs; and (2) serve as the central oversight function for all DHS acquisition programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to extend and expand the pilot program on the use of community-based organizations and local and State government entities to ensure that veterans receive care and benefits for which they are eligible and for other purposes.

Bill: 115-s-903
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Mental health
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
State and local government operations
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Veterans' medical care
Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 
This bill amends the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to: (1) extend until September 30, 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pilot program on the use of community-based organizations and local and state government entities to coordinate and increase the availability of health care to veterans transitioning to civilian life, (2) authorize the VA to expand the program to include additional locations beyond the five locations originally selected, and (3) require the VA to submit a report by 180 days after the completion of the program on the advisability of continuing or expanding it.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-904
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Computer security and identity theft
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Department of Homeland Security
Executive agency funding and structure
Homeland security
Judges
Law enforcement officers

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a National Computer Forensics Institute, to be operated by the U.S. Secret Service. 
 
The institute: 
 
 
 shall disseminate homeland security information related to the investigation and prevention of cyber and electronic crime and related threats; 
 
 shall educate, train, and equip state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges; 
 
 shall ensure that timely, actionable, and relevant expertise and homeland security information related to cyber and electronic crime and related threats is shared with such officers and prosecutors;
 
 may provide such officers with computer equipment, hardware, software, manuals, and tools necessary to conduct cyber and electronic crime and related threat investigations and computer and mobile device forensic examinations; and 
 
shall facilitate the expansion of the network of Electronic Crime Task Forces of the Secret Service through the addition of such officers educated and trained at the institute.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Second Division Memorial Modification Act

Bill: 115-s-907
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Conflicts and wars
District of Columbia
Military history
Monuments and memorials
Veterans' organizations and recognition

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Second Division Memorial Modification Act

 
This bill allows the Second Indianhead Division Association, Inc., Scholarship and Memorials Foundation to place additional commemorative elements or engravings on the raised platform or stone work of the Second Division Memorial located in President's Park in the District of Columbia to honor further the members of the Second Infantry Division who have given their lives in service to the United States.
 
No federal funds may be used for such modifications. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Make it in America Act

Bill: 115-s-908
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Buy American requirements
Congressional oversight
Government studies and investigations
Manufacturing
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Make It in America Act

 
This bill directs the Office for Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) to promulgate specified regulations to standardize and simplify how federal agencies comply with, report on, and enforce the Buy American Act, including rules to ensure that a project is not disaggregated for purposes of avoiding the applicability of such requirements.
 
The bill: (1) directs the OFPP to issue rules to evaluate domestic content in a "manufactured end product," (2) requires domestic component costs to exceed 75% before manufactured materials are considered manufactured "substantially all" from U.S. materials, (3) excludes contract start-up costs from a domestic offer in comparisons of offers between domestic and nondomestic entities, (4) prohibits agencies from determining that the acquisition costs of U.S. materials is unreasonable unless it would increase overall acquisition cost by more than 25%, and (5) applies Buy American requirements to materials for use outside the United States that are not needed on an urgent basis or that are acquired on a regular basis. 
 
An agency may not determine that sufficient material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States unless: (1) domestic production cannot be initiated without significantly delaying the project; and (2) sufficient substitutable material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States. 
 
The bill: (1) revises reporting requirements regarding total federal agency acquisitions of materials acquired from entities that mine, produce, or manufacture them outside the United States; and (2) requires the U.S. International Trade Commission to submit an industry analysis of the capabilities of the domestic information technology and semiconductor industry to supply the federal government with domestically manufactured information technology systems.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-909
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural conservation and pollution
Farmland
Forests, forestry, trees
Land use and conservation
Rural conditions and development
Water use and supply
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2017 

 
This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and conservation easement programs administered by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). 
 
(CRP provides payments to farmers who agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality.) 
 
The bill modifies CRP to: 
 
 
reauthorize the program through FY2023,
 
increase the annual acreage cap to 30 million acres,
 
revise the formula for determining state target acreage enrollment, 
 
add restrictions for land that is planted to trees,
 
modify policies regarding grazing and the mechanical harvesting of vegetative cover, and
 
 remove payment limitations for rural water districts or associations that use land enrolled in CRP to protect a wellhead.
 
 
The bill also modifies the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), which currently provides retired or retiring land owners or operators with additional payments for land enrolled in expiring CRP contracts in exchange for agreeing to sell or rent the land to a beginning farmer or rancher or a socially disadvantaged group.
 
The bill revises TIP to: (1) make landowners who are at least 65 years of age and not retiring eligible for the program, (2) permit the land to be transferred to a veteran farmer or rancher, and (3) modify policies regarding the early termination and transfer of CRP contracts.
 
In administering conservation easement programs, USDA must allow enrolled land to be: (1) modified for specified purposes; or (2) exchanged for land that has equal or greater conservation, wildlife, ecological, and economic values.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Saracini Aviation Safety Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-911
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2017-04-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Aviation and airports
Department of Transportation
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: 

Saracini Aviation Safety Act of 2017

 
 This bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration to issue an order to require: (1) the installation of secondary barriers, other than the cockpit door, to prevent access to the flight deck of each covered aircraft; (2) such barriers on the aircraft with a cockpit door to remain locked while the aircraft is in flight and the cockpit door separating the flight deck and the passenger area is open; and (3) such barriers on the aircraft without a cockpit door to remain locked as determined by the pilot in command.
 
&quot;Covered aircraft&quot; is defined as a commercial aircraft: (1) equipped with more than 75 passenger seats, and (2) with a maximum gross takeoff weight of more than 75,000 pounds.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2017-04-07
text: Introduced in Senate