lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-03-23 00:00:00

Care and Readiness Enhancement for Reservists Act of 2015 or the CARE for Reservists Act of 2015

Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to provide care for behavioral health conditions to any member of the Selected Reserve for whom such Secretary determines, based on the member's most recent medical exam or mental health assessment, that the receipt of such care will ensure that the member meets applicable standards of medical readiness.

Provides funding for such care through the Defense Health Program.

 Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish counseling, which may include a comprehensive individual assessment, to any member of the Selected Reserve who has a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma. States that such counseling or assessment shall not require a prior referral.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Congress
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

National POW/MIA Remembrance Act of 2015

Directs the Architect of the Capitol to: (1) enter into an agreement to obtain a chair featuring the logo of the National League of POW/MIA Families, and (2) place it in the U.S. Capitol in a suitable permanent location within two years after enactment of this Act.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-04-13 00:00:00

Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015

Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to select a VA medical center to serve as the national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the biological children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of individuals exposed to toxic substances while serving as members of the Armed Forces that are related to such exposure.

Requires: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) or the head of a federal agency to make available to the VA for review records held by DOD, an Armed Force, or that federal agency that might assist the VA in making determinations regarding individuals and descendents afflicted with a health condition as a result of such exposure; (2) the VA and DOD or such agency head to jointly establish a mechanism for the availability and review of records by the VA; and (3) the national center to employ at least one licensed clinical social worker to coordinate access of individuals to appropriate social and health care programs and to handle case management.

Establishes an Advisory Board to oversee and assess the national center and to advise the VA regarding the center's work.

Directs DOD to declassify documents (other than documents that would materially and immediately threaten national security) related to any known incident in which at least 100 members of the Armed Forces were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least one case of an associated disability.

Directs the VA to conduct a national outreach and education campaign directed toward members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their family members to communicate information on: (1) incidents of exposure of members of the Armed Forces to toxic substances, health conditions resulting from such exposure, and the potential long-term effects; and (2) the national center. Requires DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services to assist the VA in implementing such campaign.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Veterans Entrepreneurship Act

(Sec. 3) Amends the Small Business Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from assessing a guarantee fee in connection with a loan made under the SBA Express Program to a veteran or spouse of a veteran on or after October 1, 2015.

(Sec. 4) Directs the Administrator to report to Congress on: (1) the feasibility of providing financial planning and counseling to owners of small business concerns who are members of a reserve component prior to deployment; (2) the level of outreach to and consultation with female veterans by women's business centers and veterans business outreach centers; and (3) the Military Reservists Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which shall include a discussion of SBA outreach efforts to increase participation, the number of loans made, and an analysis of the effectiveness of, and recommendations for improving, the Program.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-04-16 00:00:00

Repeals certain provisions which require the offset of amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities for the surviving spouses of former military personnel who are entitled to military retired pay or would be entitled to such pay, except for being under 60 years of age.

Prohibits recoupment by the Secretary of Defense of certain amounts previously paid to SBP recipients in the form of a retired pay refund.

Repeals the optional authority of (and instead requires) the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to a member's dependent children when there is no eligible surviving spouse. Directs the Secretary concerned to restore annuity eligibility to a surviving spouse who earlier agreed to transfer such eligibility to a surviving child or children of a member.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-04-23 00:00:00

Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act of 2015

Expands eligibility for the family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include members of the Armed Forces or veterans who are seriously injured or who became ill on active duty prior to September 11, 2001 (currently, limited to service after September 11, 2001).

Expands services to caregivers of veterans under such program to include child care services, financial planning services, and legal services.

 Terminates the support program for caregivers of covered veterans on October 1, 2020, except that any caregiver activities carried out on September 30, 2020, shall be continued on and after October 1, 2020.

Authorizes the transfer of entitlement to post 9/11 education assistance to family members by veterans who are retired for a physical disability or who are seriously injured veterans in need of family caregiver services, without regard to length-of-service requirements.

Authorizes the VA Secretary to pay monthly special compensation to seriously injured or ill veterans in need of personal care services and to their caregivers.

Authorizes flexible work schedules or telework for federal employees who are caregivers of veterans.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to designate a veteran participating in the program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers as an adult with a special need for purposes of the lifespan respite care program.

Establishes in the executive branch an interagency working group to review and report on policies relating to the caregivers of veterans and members of the Armed Forces.

Directs the Secretary to provide for studies on members of the Armed Forces who commenced service after September 11, 2001, and veterans who have incurred a serious injury or illness, including a mental health injury, and their caregivers.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-04-29 00:00:00

Legal Justice for Servicemembers Act of 2015

This bill revises whistle blower protections for members of the Armed Forces.

Prohibited personnel actions shall include:

 a superior's failure to respond to retaliatory action or harassment taken against a subordinate; and action that could be understood as an attempt to dissuade a service member from making or preparing a communication, or participating in any other activity. A service member may opt out of a military branch investigation in favor of an investigation by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (DODIG).

An investigating Inspector General (IG) may impose a 90-day stay of a personnel action, which may be extended by the military department concerned to complete an investigation, in order to prevent undue hardship to a service member if reasonable grounds exist to believe that a prohibited personnel action has occurred.

Periodic notice must be given to service members on the progress of IG investigations.

IG recommendations for disposition of complaints must include recommendations for disciplinary actions against the person who committed the prohibited personnel action, against a superior who knew or should have known but failed to address the action, or both.

An investigating IG shall submit a substantiated investigation to the appropriate military corrections board unless the service member requests otherwise.

Service members may request a corrections board hearing under specified circumstances.

DODIG shall prescribe uniform standards for: (1) investigation of allegations of prohibited personnel actions, and (2) staff training.

The investigative evidentiary burden of proof shall be "clear and convincing evidence."

Provisions are revised for improvements to authorities and procedures for correction of military records, including permitting a claimant to seek judicial review of a board's determination in an appropriate U.S. court.

The Inspector General Act of 1978 is amended to include the Inspectors General of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the National Guard Bureau, and the Coast Guard in the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-05-11 00:00:00

Veterans Appeals Assistance and Improvement Act of 2015

This bill directs the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to establish a financial assistance program to provide legal and other assistance without charge for veterans and other persons seeking Court review who are unable to afford legal representation costs. (Programs include case screening and referral, training for attorney and related personnel, and facilitation of pro bono representation by members of the bar and law school clinical and other programs.)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall establish a financial assistance program to provide legal and other assistance without charge to veterans and other persons seeking review by the Board of Veterans' Appeals who are unable to afford legal representation costs.

The Court and the VA shall each carry out such programs through an interagency agreement with the Legal Services Corporation. The Corporation may receive a reimbursable payment from the Court or VA for providing such financial assistance. Funds may not be used for the payment of attorney's fees.

VA shall provide for the expeditious treatment by the Board of any claim that: (1) is remanded to VA by the Court, or (2) has been pending before the Board for eight years or more.

The Government Accountability Office shall review the processing of appeals of VA decisions regarding service-connected disability and dependency and indemnity compensation claims.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-06-03 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate reported version is repeated here.)

Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase, as of December 1, 2015, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.

 Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.

Directs the VA to publish the increased amounts in the Federal Register.

 Authorizes the VA to adjust administratively, consistent with the increases made by this Act, the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who have not received compensation for a service-connected disability.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-06-03 00:00:00

Ensuring Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Accountability Act

Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to retain in a VA employee's permanent record a copy of any reprimand or admonishment received by such an employee.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-06-03 00:00:00

This bill requires that a military working dog be retired in the United States, except when a U.S. citizen living abroad adopts the dog at the time of retirement.

Amounts available to the military department concerned shall be available for such dog's transport to the United States for retirement.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-06-04 00:00:00

Authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to James Megellas for acts of valor on January 28, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-06-04 00:00:00

VOW to Hire Heroes Extension Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through 2018 the work opportunity tax credit for hiring a qualified veteran (defined as an unemployed veteran who is certified as being a member of a family receiving food stamp assistance and who is entitled to compensation for a service-connected disability), (2) revise tax credit eligibility requirements for documenting the status of veterans and their receipt of unemployment compensation, and (3) extend the payroll tax offset for such credit to certain for-profit employers.

Directs the Internal Revenue Service, in consultation with the Department of Labor, to make annual reports on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this Act in increasing the employment of veterans.

Requires the Department of the Treasury to pay: (1) each U.S. possession (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) with a mirror code tax system amounts equal to the loss to such possession due to this Act; and (2) each U.S. possession without such a tax system an amount estimated to equal the loss to such possession that would have occurred due to this Act if such a tax system had been in effect in that possession.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-07-14 00:00:00

Veterans Court of Appeals Support Act of 2015

This bills makes permanent the maximum number of judges presiding over the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to nine judges.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-07-15 00:00:00

World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act

Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accept additional documentation for verifying that an individual performed honorable service as a coastwise merchant seaman during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires such documentation to include Social Security Administration records and validated testimony in the case of the absence of Coast Guard shipping or discharge forms, ship logbooks, documents, or other official employment records.

Requires DHS, when determining whether to recognize service allegedly performed during such period, to recognize masters of seagoing vessels or other command officers who were authorized to document an individual for purposes of hiring for or discharging from the merchant marine.

Considers any service so recognized as active-duty service for purposes of veterans' burial benefits. Makes such veterans eligible for any appropriate military medals, ribbons, and decorations. Requires DHS to verify that an individual performed such service under honorable conditions without regard to their sex, age, or disability during the service period.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-07-16 00:00:00

Connect with Veterans Act of 2015

Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a program to facilitate VA outreach to veterans, primary state agencies for the administration of veterans' benefits and services, political subdivisions of states, and Indian tribes.

Requires the VA, to carry out such program, to: (1) establish a national veterans directory, and (2) share directory information with any such entities from which a participating individual has expressed interest in receiving information.

Prohibits: (1) the VA from selling information collected under this Act, (2) the VA or any participating entity from sharing such information with a non-participating entity, or (3) any participating entity from using any such information for any political communication or from requiring any participating individual to purchase any product or service.

Requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1) provide to each member of the Armed Forces separating from service a form for the collection of information to be included in the directory, (2) ensure that completion of the form is voluntary, and (3) take steps to protect the privacy of individuals and the security of information.

Directs DOD and the Department of Labor jointly to take steps to integrate the collection of information under this Act into the Transition Assistance Program.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-09-09 00:00:00

Los Angeles Homeless Veterans Leasing Act of 2015

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out certain leases at the VA's West Los Angeles Campus in Los Angeles, California, for: (1) supportive housing; (2) health, education, family support, vocational training, and other services that principally benefit veterans and their families; and (3) a lease of real property to a California institution that has had a long-term medical affiliation with the VA at such Campus.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-09-10 00:00:00

This bill increases the special monthly pension for living Medal of Honor recipients.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall not make an annual pension increase for such recipients, effective December 1, 2016, if the increased monthly pension under this Act takes effect before such date. If the VA does not make the December 1, 2016 increase, however, annual increases shall resume as of December 1, 2017.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-09-25 00:00:00

This bill extends for five years the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicides, including Agent Orange, with respect to veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-09-30 00:00:00

Wounded Warrior Employment Improvement Act of 2015

Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop and publish an action plan for improving the training and rehabilitation services and assistance provided by the VA for veterans with service-connected disabilities.

Requires such plan to include:

 a comprehensive analysis of, and recommendations and a proposed implementation plan for remedying, workload management challenges at VA regional offices, including steps to reduce counselor case loads of veterans participating in a rehabilitation program; a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the disproportionately low percentage of veterans with service-connected disabilities who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, who opt to participate in a VA rehabilitation program relative to the percentage of such veterans who use their entitlement to VA educational assistance; recommendations and a proposed implementation plan for encouraging more veterans with service-connected disabilities who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, to participate in VA rehabilitation programs; and a national staff training program for vocational rehabilitation counselors, that includes the provision of training to assist counselors in understanding the very profound disorientation experienced by warriors because of their injury, training to assist counselors in working in partnership with veterans on individual rehabilitation plans, and training on post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions and on moderate to severe traumatic brain injury that is designed to improve the ability of such counselors to assist veterans with such conditions.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-10-01 00:00:00

Veterans Justice Outreach Act of 2015

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a program to support veterans in contact with the criminal justice system by discouraging unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and other nonviolent crimes.

The program shall be carried out in partnership with local law enforcement, judicial, and community-based treatment and legal assistance organizations.

 The VA shall establish coordinators to provide program outreach.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

Save Oak Flat Act

This bill amends the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 to repeal the authorization and requirement for a land exchange between the Department of Agriculture and Resolution Copper Mining, LLC. under which 2,422 acres of Forest Service land located in Pinal County, Arizona, are to be exchanged for various parcels of land owned by Resolution Copper.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

This bill authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to Charles S. Kettles for acts of valor during the Vietnam War.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-11-10 00:00:00

Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2015 or the HIRE Vets Act

This bill directs the Department of Labor to establish a HIRE Vets Medallion Program to solicit voluntary information from employers for purposes of recognizing, by the award of a HIRE Vets Medallion, verified efforts by these employers to: (1) recruit, employ, and retain veterans; and (2) provide community and charitable services supporting the veteran community.