zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2003 to authorize the U.S. Capitol Police, by interagency transfer, donation, sale, trade-in, or other appropriate method, to dispose of any property in their possession because it has been disposed of, forfeited, voluntarily abandoned, or unclaimed. (Currently the U.S. Capitol Police are authorized to use these methods to dispose of only their own surplus or obsolete property.)

Upon notifying specified congressional committees, the U.S. Capitol Police may accept surplus or obsolete property offered by another federal department, agency, or office.

Date: 2016-03-14
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Architect of the Capitol Administrative Operations Improvement Act of 2016

This bill establishes in the Treasury a Working Capital Fund for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), whose amounts shall be available for:

 appropriate, efficient, and economical common agency services, activities, equipment, and other common costs; and construction, capital repairs, renovations, rehabilitation, maintenance of real property, and similar agency expenses, on a reimbursable basis within the AOC. The Fund shall consist of, among other things, appropriations as well as:

 the reasonable value of stocks of supplies, equipment, and other assets and inventories on order that the AOC transfers to the Fund, minus related liabilities and unpaid obligations; receipts from the sale or exchange of property held in the Fund; all miscellaneous receipts compensating the AOC for loss or damage to any government property under its jurisdiction or care, including the U.S. Botanic Garden; and reimbursements and transfers from certain other accounts. The Fund shall be reimbursed from available AOC accounts for supplies, materials, services, and related expenses, at rates which will approximate the full cost of operations, including:

 accrual of employee leave and benefits; depreciation of plant, property, and equipment; and overhead. The AOC may use certain appropriations for the purchase or rental, maintenance, and operation of passenger motor vehicles to provide shuttle service for Members and employees of Congress to and from the House Office Buildings.

Available balances of expired AOC appropriations shall be available to the AOC for reimbursing the Department of Labor for any unemployment compensation payments for former AOC employees, without regard to the fiscal year for which the obligation to make such payments is incurred.

Date: 2016-03-14
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Do Your Job or Don't Get Paid Act 

This bill withholds the salaries of Members of the House of Representatives if the House has not passed all of the regular appropriations bills before the beginning of the fiscal year.

The salaries are withheld until the earlier of: (1) the first day by which the House has passed all of the regular appropriations bills for the fiscal year, or (2) the last day of the Congress.

For the purposes of this bill, passage of all of the regular appropriations bills includes passing each bill individually or in combination with any of the other appropriations bills.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement with the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of the State of Maryland under which the Commission shall provide, and the Joint Committee shall accept, a statue of Harriet Tubman.

After receiving the statue, the Joint Committee on the Library shall place it in a suitable permanent location in the U.S. Capitol.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Transparency in National Security Act of 2016

This bill amends the Freedom of Information Act to include the National Security Council (NSC) within the definition of "agency" (thus applying that Act's requirements to the NSC). Such amendment shall apply with respect to any record created by the NSC before, on, or after this bill's enactment.

Date: 2016-04-13
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 2016

This bill amends the federal judicial code to reauthorize the independent counsel law (currently expired) for a five-year period.

It extends to eight years after leaving office the period during which individuals who have held the following positions are still subject to preliminary investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine whether to apply to a division of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for the appointment of an independent counsel for further investigation and possible prosecution:

 the President or the Vice President; the Attorney General or the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, or Homeland Security; the U.S. Trade Representative, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Commissioner of Social Security, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or the Director of National Intelligence; individuals working in the Executive Office of the President compensated at or above level II of the Executive Schedule; Assistant Attorneys General and DOJ employees compensated at or above level III of the Executive Schedule; or the Director of Central Intelligence, the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, or the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Date: 2016-05-17
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Law
Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016

This bill directs the Archivist of the United States to make and transmit to Congress an organized compilation of all applications and rescissions of applications ever made by states under article V of the Constitution to call a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution.

The Archivist: (1) in complying with such requirement, shall use the records contained in the National Archive and Records Administration and attempt to obtain an official copy of any application or rescission that may not be in such records; (2) submit a report on the extent of suspected missing applications or rescissions not included in the compilation; and (3) catalog the applications and rescissions by year of submission and state.

The committees on the judiciary in each chamber shall make the applications and rescissions contained in such compilation available on a publicly accessible website and update the compilation as specified.

In order to simplify and make uniform the process by which state legislatures make such an application or rescission, Congress recommends that after adoption of an application or rescission by a state legislature, the secretary of state or other state official should submit at least two copies of the measure containing the application or rescission to Congress, one copy addressed to the President of the Senate and one copy to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Date: 2016-05-23
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Taxpayer-Funded Travel Transparency Act of 2016

This bill requires each Member of the House of Representatives to post on the Member's official public website, and to furnish to the Committee on House Administration:

 a description of each trip taken by the Member for which transportation, lodging, or related expenses were paid by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of State, or an office of the House; and the amounts paid by DOD, State, or the office for such expenses. These reporting requirements shall not apply with respect to a trip taken by a Member for which expenses were paid by that Member's Representational Allowance.

The Committee on House Administration shall maintain on its official public website a clearinghouse of all of the travel and expenses information furnished to the Committee by all House members.

In the case of a trip taken by a Member of the House for which DOD or the State Department pays transportation, lodging, or related expenses, the respective department shall:

 determine the costs of the transportation, lodging, and related expenses paid; and furnish the Member with a written statement of those expenses within 10 days after completion of the trip. The respective department may waive the written statement of expenses requirement if furnishing the statement may affect national security.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Establishing Digital Interactive Transparency Act or the EDIT Act

This bill instructs the Library of Congress, in the operation of the Congress.gov website, to ensure that each version of a bill or resolution which is made available for viewing permits the viewer to follow and track, within the same document, any changes made from the previous versions of that bill or resolution.

Date: 2016-06-15
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Agency Accountability Act of 2016 

This bill requires any agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement to deposit the amount in the general fund of the Treasury. The funds may not be used unless the funding is provided in advance in an appropriations bill.

Any amounts deposited during the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted may not be obligated during the fiscal year and must be used for deficit reduction.

The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require offsetting receipts and collections to be treated as revenue. (Offsetting receipts and collections are funds collected by agencies from other government accounts or from the public in businesslike or market-oriented transactions. Under current law, the collections are treated as negative budget authority and outlays rather than revenue and may be used to offset spending for budget enforcement purposes.)

The requirements of the bill do not apply to the U.S. Postal Service or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the USPTO must submit annually to Congress a report describing any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the USPTO during the previous year.

Date: 2016-06-16
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Readable Legislation Act of 2016

This bill requires every bill or joint resolution that amends an existing section of any Act to do so by setting forth the entire section and showing the omissions and insertions proposed by appropriate typographical devices. A measure may not revise or amend any section of an Act by a mere reference to it.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
This bill prescribes requirements and deadlines for Senate consideration and votes on nominations submitted by the President, including referrals of such nominations to a single Senate committee and jointly to more than one committee.

If each committee to which the nomination has been referred reports it favorably to the Senate or discharges it without recommendation, the Senate shall hold a vote on the nomination within 60 days after the last such committee reports or discharges it.

 If the President submits to the Senate the nomination of an individual for appointment to an office and it is not referred to any Senate committee, the Senate shall hold a vote on the nomination within 150 days.

 In the case of the nomination of an individual for appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States, a vote in the Senate on a motion to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to consideration of the nomination shall be treated as a vote on the nomination for purposes of this bill.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Right to Petition Congress Act

This bill requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to establish a process under which they shall:

 develop a national discharge petition for a bill or joint resolution introduced in either the House or the Senate or referred to either chamber after passage by the other chamber during a Congress, make each petition available for signature by individuals registered to vote in elections for federal office held in their domiciles, and compile such signatures. The Clerk or the Secretary may: (1) develop a petition only at the request of the sponsor of the bill or joint resolution; and (2) carry out this bill using such methods as the Clerk and Secretary consider appropriate, including providing for the availability of such petitions and the acceptance of signatures on them exclusively through electronic means.

If a discharge petition is certified by the Clerk or the Secretary as having valid signatures of 25% or more of qualified voters, the leadership of the House and Senate shall ensure that a vote on the final passage of the measure takes place within a specified time period.

As part of the national discharge petition process, the Clerk and the Secretary shall provide on their public websites a hyperlink through which individuals may obtain information on how to register to vote in federal elections in their domiciles.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on September 20, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to permit the use of public transportation security assistance grant funds for backfill associated with security training.

(Sec. 3) Funds provided pursuant to such a grant for a specified authorized use shall, with two exceptions, remain available for use by a grant recipient for at least 36 months.

 Any such funds used for security improvements for public transportation systems or security improvements for stations and other public transportation infrastructure, including those owned by state or local governments, shall remain available for at least 55 months.

(Sec. 4) The Government Accountability Office shall review the public transportation security assistance grant program.

Date: 2016-09-07
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Transportation and public works
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)

(Sec. 1) This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to give Congress three full business days' prior notice of any announcement of competitive DOT projects receiving a discretionary grant award, letter of intent, loan, loan guarantee, or line of credit of $750,000 or more.

DOT shall also give Congress notice of emergency program fund allocations for the repair of highways and roads damaged as a result of a disaster:

 three full business days before issuance of the allocation; or concurrently with the allocation, if it is made using DOT's quick release (or any successor) process.

Date: 2016-09-09
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Congressional Accountability Now Act or the CAN Act

This bill prohibits the use of funds: (1) for the official travel expenses of a Member of Congress or legislative branch employee for airline accomodations that are not coach-class, (2) for the long-term leasing of a vehicle by a Member of Congress, and (3) for a Member's official mail other than a document transmitted under official letterhead.

The bill amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to reduce the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress by 10%.

This bill excludes Members of Congress from further coverage under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). This exclusion does not apply to the Vice President.

Nothing in this bill shall: (1) be considered to nullify, modify, or otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under CSRS or FERS for any Member covering any period before its enactment; or (2) affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan.

Members currently covered by CSRS or FERS may elect to retain such coverage by giving written notice within 90 days after enactment of this bill.

Date: 2016-09-12
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2016

This bill prohibits the President from using the Armed Forces to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a congressional declaration of war expressly authorizing such strike.

"First-use nuclear strike" means a nuclear weapons attack against an enemy that is conducted without the President determining that the enemy has first launched a nuclear strike against the United States or a U.S. ally.

Date: 2016-09-27
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: International affairs
No Lobbyists on Presidential Transition Teams Act

This bill amends the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to prohibit any payment authorized by the General Services Administration for a President-elect or Vice President-elect under such Act from being made for services or facilities provided by a registered lobbyist.

Date: 2016-11-16
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Presidential Accountability Act

This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for the President or Vice President to personally and substantially participate in official matters that affect their financial interests, unless the financial interests are held in a blind trust or the President or Vice President discloses the financial interests and receives an exemption.

It imposes criminal penalties—a prison term, a fine, or both—on a President or Vice President who commits the offense. It also authorizes civil penalties and injunctions.

Additionally, a violation constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor (i.e., grounds for impeachment) under Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

Finally, the bill prohibits the President or Vice President from entering into contracts with the U.S. government.

Date: 2016-11-17
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
None of the Above Act

Any individual casting a ballot in a general election for federal office shall be given the opportunity to cast a vote for "None of the Above" on a separate line after the names of all other candidates in the election.

The effect of "None of the Above" receiving the greatest number of votes in elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate would be to require a special election and in elections for President and Vice President it would be to require a special general election.

Date: 2016-11-17
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Presidential Tax Disclosure Act of 2016 

This bill requires any individual holding the office of President to submit federal tax returns to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). The individual must submit: (1) each return filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for any year ending while the individual is President, and (2) each return filed with the IRS for the three years before the individual assumed office.

After receiving the returns, the OGE must: (1) make the returns publicly available on the Internet, and (2) submit the returns to specified congressional committees.

No information may be redacted from the disclosed returns except for: (1) Social Security, tax identification, and account identification numbers; and (2) the names of any dependent of the taxpayer.

The bill establishes civil and criminal penalties to enforce the disclosure requirements. It also amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the IRS to disclose to the OGE any federal tax return that is required to be disclosed by this bill, but has not been submitted to the OGE within a specified deadline.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
This bill amends: (1) the Freedom of Information Act to require the Department of the Treasury to make available each federal income tax return filed by an individual serving as President upon request, and (2) the Internal Revenue Code to authorize Treasury to disclose such returns.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
One President at a Time Act of 2016

This bill amends the federal criminal code to specify that the President-elect, or a person acting on behalf of the President-elect, is subject to the prohibition against unauthorized correspondence with a foreign government about a dispute or controversy with the United States.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Nuclear Sanity Act

This bill requires the President to obtain the approval of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State prior to the use of nuclear weapons, except: (1) in the case of a foreign military attack on U.S. territory, or (2) if it is impossible for the President to communicate with DOD and the State Department for a 24-hour period.

The bill requires: (1) the U.S. military to disregard all orders from the President in violation of this bill, and (2) any violation or attempted violation of this bill to be deemed a high crime or misdemeanor under the Constitution.

Date: 2016-12-27
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: International affairs
Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act of 2015 or the ENFORCE the Law Act of 2015

Authorizes either chamber of Congress, upon adoption of a resolution declaring that the President or any officer or employee of the United States has established or implemented a policy, practice, or procedure to refrain from enforcing, applying, following, or administering any federal statute, rule, regulation, program, policy, or other law in violation of the constitutional requirement that the President faithfully execute the laws of the United States, to bring a civil action for a declaratory judgment to that effect.

Grants jurisdiction to a three-judge panel of a U.S. district court to hear such civil action and provides for an expedited direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Enumerated Powers Act

 Requires each Act of Congress, bill, resolution, conference report, or amendment to contain a concise explanation of the specific constitutional authority relied upon as the basis for enacting each portion of the measure.

Permits a statement of constitutionality, to the extent that a measure limits or abolishes any federal activity, spending, or power overall, to cite the 9th or the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Declares that invoking one or more specified parts of the following clauses in a statement of constitutionality is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this Act: (1) the enumerated spending clause; (2) the necessary and proper clause; or (3) the commerce clause for any purpose other than the regulation of the buying and selling of goods or services, or their transportation, across boundaries with foreign nations, across state lines, or with the Indian tribes.

Declares that failure to comply with this requirement shall give rise to a point of order in either chamber.

Date: 2015-01-07
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Former Vice President Protection Improvement Act of 2015

Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit knowingly and willfully threatening to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon former Vice Presidents or members of their immediate families.

Date: 2015-01-26
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Tax Transparency Act of 2015 

Requires legislation, including conference reports or amendments, that modifies federal tax law to contain a statement describing the general effect of the modification on federal tax law. Provides that failure to provide such a statement shall give rise to a point of order during consideration of such legislation in either chamber of Congress. Sets forth procedures for consideration of such a point of order.

Date: 2015-01-26
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Taxation
Earmark Elimination Act of 2015

 Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider a bill or resolution introduced in either chamber or any other measure that includes an earmark.

Permits waiver of a point of order against an earmark only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Senators.

Makes this Act inapplicable to any authorization of appropriations to a federal entity if the authorization is not specifically targeted to a state, locality, or congressional district.

Date: 2015-01-29
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Balanced Budget Accountability Act

 Requires each house of Congress to adopt a concurrent budget resolution for a fiscal year which provides that, for each fiscal year for which a budget is provided under the resolution (beginning by FY2025), total outlays do not exceed total receipts and are not more than 18% of the gross domestic product for such fiscal year.

Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), upon the adoption by a chamber of a concurrent budget resolution for a fiscal year, to transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President pro Tempore of the Senate (as the case may be) a certification as to whether or not that chamber has met the requirements of this Act with respect to the resolution.

Requires the appropriate payroll administrator of each chamber to deposit in an escrow account all mandatory payments for compensation of Members of Congress serving in that chamber if CBO does not certify that it has adopted a concurrent budget resolution for FY2016 before April 16, 2015.

Requires deposits to begin on such date and to be released to appropriate Members on the earlier of:

 the day on which CBO certifies that the chamber has met the requirements of this Act with respect to FY2016, or the last day of the 114th Congress. Sets forth the same requirements for FY2017 if CBO does not certify that a chamber has adopted a concurrent budget resolution for FY2017 before April 16, 2016.

Requires legislation in the House and Senate that increases revenue to be agreed upon only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of that chamber.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Read the Bills Act

This bill requires any bill or resolution introduced in either chamber of Congress to contain a provision citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the proposed measure, including all of its provisions.

Any measure introduced in either chamber, intended to amend or modify the effect of, or which would have such an effect, any current provision of law, including its expiration date, must set forth: (1) the current version of the entire section of the current law that the measure proposes to amend, verbatim; (2) the amendments being proposed by the measure; and (3) the section of law as it would read as modified by such amendments. Measures that would strike the text of an entire section of a law are excluded.

Neither the Clerk of the House of Representatives nor the Secretary of the Senate may accept legislation noncompliant with these requirements.

These requirements shall be applied to any legislation presented for consideration on the floor of either chamber.

Noncompliant measures may not be submitted for a vote on final passage.

These requirements shall not be waived or modified by either chamber or Congress jointly.

A vote on final passage of a measure (except private bills) may not occur in either chamber unless:

 the full text of the measure is published at least seven days before the vote on an official website of each chamber, public notice of the specific calendar week during which the vote is scheduled to take place is posted on the respective website within six days before the Monday of such week, and there is a reading of its full text verbatim by the Clerk or the Secretary to the respective chamber. A Member of Congress, before voting in favor of final passage of any measure (except a private bill), must sign an affidavit, executed under penalty of perjury, that the Member either: (1) was present throughout the entire reading of each such measure, and listened attentively to the reading in its entirety; or (2) before such vote, read attentively each such measure in its entirety.

This requirement shall not be waived or modified by either chamber of Congress.

An Act of Congress noncompliant with this Act shall have no force or effect. No legal, equitable, regulatory, civil, or criminal action may be brought under such Act.

The following aggrieved individuals are granted the right to bring an action against the United States to seek appropriate relief, including an injunction against the enforcement of any law whose passage did not conform to this Act:

 persons aggrieved by an action of any executive officer or employee, Members of Congress, and persons individually aggrieved by the failure of their Senator or Member of the House of Representatives to fulfill their obligation under this Act.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
One Subject at a Time Act

 Requires: (1) each bill or joint resolution to embrace no more than one subject, and (2) the subject to be clearly and descriptively expressed in the measure's title.

Prohibits an appropriations bill from containing any general legislation or change of existing law requirement, if its subject is not germane to the subject of such bill.

Declares void: (1) an entire Act or joint resolution if its title addresses two or more unrelated subjects, (2) provisions in legislation not clearly and descriptively expressed in the measure's title, (3) appropriation provisions in legislation outside the relevant subcommittee's jurisdiction, and (4) provisions of appropriation bills not germane to their subject matter.

Grants aggrieved persons and Members of Congress the right to bring an action against the United States to seek appropriate relief, including an injunction against the enforcement of any law the passage of which did not conform to this Act.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Write the Laws Act

Prohibits an Act of Congress from containing any delegation of legislative powers, whether to: (1) any component within the legislative branch, (2) the President or any other member of the executive branch, (3) the judicial branch, (4) any agency, (5) any quasi-public agency, (6) any state or state instrumentality, or (7) any other organization or individual.

Excludes from the meaning of delegation of legislative powers the issuance of presidential proclamations, the issuance of rules or regulations governing the internal operation of federal agencies, or the making of conditions upon agency grants or contracts.

Prohibits the promulgation or putting into effect of any new presidential directive, adjudicative decision, rule, or regulation, or any change to an existing presidential directive, adjudicative decision, rule, or regulation governing, limiting, imposing a penalty on, or otherwise regulating any activity of any individual or entity, other than a federal officer or employee, unless it is authorized by an Act of Congress that complies with this Act.

Requires the Comptroller General to identify to Congress all statutes enacted within 90 days after enactment of this Act that contain any delegation of legislative powers prohibited by it.

Denies any force or effect to any Act of Congress, presidential directive, adjudicative decision, rule, or regulation that is noncompliant with this Act. Prohibits any legal, equitable, regulatory, civil, or criminal action from being brought under such an Act, adjudicative decision, rule, or regulation.

Grants persons aggrieved by the action of any executive branch officer or employee the right to bring an action against the United States to seek appropriate relief, including an injunction against enforcement of any Act of Congress, presidential directive, adjudicative decision, rule, or regulation that is noncompliant with this Act.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Authority for the Use of Military Force Against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Act

This bill authorizes the President to use the U.S. Armed Forces for three years against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), any closely related successor entity, or associated persons or forces.

This bill shall also constitute the sole statutory authority for U.S. military action against ISIL, superseding any prior authorization for the use of military force against ISIL.

The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 is repealed.

Date: 2015-06-16
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: International affairs
Midnight Rule Relief Act of 2016

This bill prohibits a federal agency (excluding the Federal Election Commission, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the U.S. Postal Service) from proposing or finalizing any midnight rule unless the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget finds that such a rule will not result in: (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices; (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete internationally; or (4) a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

The bill defines "midnight rule" as an agency statement of general applicability and future effect that is issued during the moratorium period, that is intended to have the force and effect of law, and that is designed to: (1) implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy; or (2) describe the procedure or practice requirements of an agency.  The "moratorium period" begins on the day after the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in every fourth year succeeding a presidential election and extends through January 20 of the following year in which a President is not serving a consecutive term.

The bill exempts any midnight rule that the President determines is necessary: (1) because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, (2) to enforce criminal laws, (3) to protect U.S. national security, or (4) to implement an international trade agreement. The moratorium does not apply to a midnight rule if the OIRA finds that such rule is limited to repealing an existing rule and publishes a certification of that finding in the Federal Register.

Date: 2016-02-25
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Pay for Printing Act

This bill requires the sponsor of a ceremonial or commemorative Senate resolution to reimburse the Government Publishing Office for the total costs of printing the resolution out of the sponsor's Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account.

It excludes from such requirement a resolution sponsored by at least two-thirds of the Senators.

Date: 2016-09-14
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2016 

This bill prohibits the President from using the Armed Forces to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a congressional declaration of war expressly authorizing such strike.

"First-use nuclear strike" means a nuclear weapons attack against an enemy that is conducted without the President determining that the enemy has first launched a nuclear strike against the United States or a U.S. ally.

Date: 2016-09-27
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: International affairs
Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016

This bill amends the Congressional Review Act to allow Congress to consider a joint resolution to disapprove multiple regulations that federal agencies have submitted for congressional review within the last 60 legislative days of a session of Congress during the final year of a President's term. Congress may disapprove a group of such regulations together (i.e., "en bloc") instead of the current procedure of considering only one regulation at a time.

Date: 2016-11-29
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Public Online Information Act of 2016

This bill establishes a Public Online Information Advisory Committee to: (1) coordinate the government's efforts to make information from all three branches of government available on the Internet, and (2) issue nonbinding guidelines on how the government should make public information available.

The government must make public records available on the Internet at no charge, except as imposed by federal law before this bill's enactment. The bill requires: (1) public records to be permanently available on the Internet; (2) current information technology to be applied to the formats and means through which records are made available; and (3) each agency to publish on the Internet a searchable, machine-processable list of all records it makes publicly available.

The bill delineates the roles of the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Electronic Government, and the chief information officers of independent regulatory agencies. It allows exceptions to the Internet publication requirement, including a process for an agency's request for an exception to be granted if: (1) there is a clear and convincing reason for the record to not be made available on the Internet, and (2) the harm caused by disclosure significantly outweighs the public's interest in having the record available on the Internet.

Inspectors general must periodically review agency compliance. Private individuals or organizations may file a complaint in federal court if an agency denies a request to place public records on the Internet.

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) judicial and legislative agencies adopt or adapt the advisory committee's recommendations, and (2) the Government Publishing Office make all of its publications permanently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of formats.

Date: 2016-11-29
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2016

This bill establishes the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program for the appointment of individuals who are graduates of accredited law schools to serve as congressional clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives.

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration must each select at least six individuals for a one-year term to serve for a clerkship with an office in their respective chambers. The committees shall ensure that congressional clerks selected under this bill are apportioned equally between majority and minority party offices.

The bill expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the amount of financial assistance provided to a congressional clerk should, if practicable, be comparable to the compensation and benefits provided for similar clerkships offered through the federal judiciary and executive branches; and (2) any financial assistance provided to a clerk should not result in a net increase in the amounts appropriated for the legislative branch for any fiscal year.

Date: 2016-12-05
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to:

 bring a civil action in the name of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to enforce the subpoena issued to Carl Ferrer, Chief Executive Officer of Backpage.com, LLC; and conduct all related civil contempt proceedings.

Date: 2016-02-29
Topic: Government Operations (Branch Relations)
Subject: Congress
Redesignates the White Rocks National Recreation Area in Vermont as the "Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area".

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
National Discovery Trails Act - Amends the National Trails System Act to establish national discovery trails, which shall be extended, continuous interstate trails located so as to provide for outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities. Authorizes the designation of such trails on Federal lands and, with the consent of the owner, on non-federal lands. Requires the appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail to administer the trail in cooperation with a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization. Sets forth requirements for designation as a national discovery trail. Designates as a national discovery trail the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail which shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, traveling northern and southern routes from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Northern Neck National Heritage Area Study Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to study and report to specified congressional committees on the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Northern Neck National Heritage Area to be comprised of: (1) the part of eastern coastal Virginia between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers; (2) Westmoreland, Northumberland, Richmond, King George, and Lancaster Counties, Virginia; and (3) other areas adjacent to or in the vicinity of those areas that have similar heritage aspects.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Protect our Veterans Memorials Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to extend federal jurisdiction over the destruction of veterans' memorials to such memorials on state or local government property.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act - Amends the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the American Battlefield Protection Program, to establish an acquisition grant program for battlefields and associated sites identified in the Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States (battlefield report). Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants to states or local governments (eligible entities) to pay the federal share of the cost of acquiring fee-simple or lesser interests from willing sellers in such sites. Permits eligible entities to acquire an interest in eligible sites using such grants in partnership with nonprofit organizations. Requires the non-federal share of the cost of acquisition of eligible sites to be not less than 50 percent of the total.Subjects acquired property to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act's prohibition against conversion to other than public outdoor recreation uses without the Secretary's approval. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report on activities carried out under this Act and an update of the battlefield report.Authorizes appropriations to: (1) provide grants under the Program for FY2009 through FY2013; and (2) update the battlefield report.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve Boundary Adjustment Act of 2007 - Amends the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 to: (1) adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana by increasing the acreage limitation; and (2) authorize the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to acquire any such additional land, water, and interests in land and water by donation, purchase (but only with the owner's consent), transfer from any other federal agency, or exchange. Requires, with respect to the Bayou aux Carpes Addition and the CIT Tract Addition, any federal land acquired in such Additions to: (1) be transferred without consideration to the administrative jurisdiction of the National Park Service; and (2) any federal land in the Additions that is transferred, be subject to any easements that have been agreed to by the Secretary and the Secretary of the Army. Permits the acquisition of any private land, water, or interests in land and water in the Unit only with the owner's consent. Modifies and/or eliminates certain provisions related to the acquisition of property within the Unit. Permits hunting, fishing, and trapping within the Unit, but only as to land, water, or interests in land and water managed by the Secretary. Continues to provide for the designation of zones where, and established periods when, no hunting, fishing, or trapping shall be permitted except for public safety reasons.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Act of 2008 - Establishes the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in New Jersey as a unit of the National Park System. Sets forth conditions concerning the establishment of the Park.Specifies the boundaries of the Park. Sets forth provisions regarding the administration of the Park. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to complete a management plan for the Park. Establishes the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Advisory Commission to advise the Secretary in the development of the management plan. Directs the Secretary to complete a study regarding the preservation and interpretation of Hinchliffe Stadium as listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which shall include an assessment of the potential for listing it as a National Historic Landmark as well as options for maintaining its historic integrity. Authorizes appropriations.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Act of 2007 - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate specified segments of Fossil Creek, a tributary to the Verde River in Arizona, as components of the national wild and scenic rivers system. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a river management plan for the designated segments.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
General Slocum Memorial Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, to study in Bronx County, New York, the shoreline of the area roughly bounded by 149th Street on the west and Oak Point Rail Yard spurs on the east, including North Brother Island, to evaluate the national significance of the area and the suitability and feasibility of designating the area as a unit of the National Park System.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Museum of Ideas Act of 2007 - Establishes the Museum of Ideas Commission to develop a plan for establishing in Washington, D.C., a museum that presents the history and evolution of human ideas.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Public Lands (National Parks)
Subject: Arts, culture, religion