Legislative Activity

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act aims to improve support for individuals diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. This bill eliminates the standard waiting period for receiving Social Security disability insurance benefits and waives the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage. These changes ensure immediate access to crucial financial and healthcare support upon diagnosis.

The Military Spouse Hiring Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand eligibility for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). This change allows employers to claim the tax credit for hiring qualified military spouses. A qualified military spouse is defined as someone certified as being married to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The Crucial Communism Teaching Act mandates the development of a high school civic education curriculum focused on the history and dangers of communism. This curriculum must detail the death toll caused by communist regimes and highlight ongoing human rights abuses. The Act also requires the creation of "Portraits in Patriotism" oral history resources featuring victims of oppressive political systems.

The Securing American Agriculture Act mandates an annual report from the Secretary of Agriculture detailing U.S. reliance on China for critical farming supplies like fertilizers, seeds, and veterinary drugs. This study must assess domestic production capabilities and identify supply chain vulnerabilities that China could exploit. The goal is to provide Congress with actionable recommendations for reducing dependency through onshore or nearshore production.

The Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2025 aims to reduce maternal mortality by strengthening Maternal Mortality Review Committees with new expertise requirements and improved data collection. This bill mandates the annual sharing of updated best practices for preventing maternal deaths and serious illness across the healthcare system. Furthermore, it significantly increases and extends federal funding for these critical maternal health initiatives through fiscal year 2029.

The "Strengthening Rural Cooperatives and Communities Act" reauthorizes and amends the Rural Cooperative Development Grant program. It prioritizes assistance to underserved communities and requires more thorough reporting and analysis of the program's impact. The act extends the program's authorization through 2029.

The James Earl Jones Congressional Gold Medal Act directs the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to James Earl Jones, honoring his contributions to the United States and his work promoting inclusion in film and theatre. The Secretary of the Treasury will create the gold medal, and bronze duplicates will be made available for sale to the public.

The TREAT PTSD Act mandates the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to provide stellate ganglion block (SGB) to veterans and members of the Armed Forces diagnosed with PTSD who elect to receive it after being fully informed of its risks and benefits. It allows the treatment to be furnished through VA or military medical facilities, or qualified healthcare providers. The bill also requires updating the VADOD Clinical Practice Guideline for PTSD management to include SGB as a therapy option.

The Veteran Education Assistance Adjustment Act increases the annual stipend for books, supplies, and equipment for veterans under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program from $1,000 to $1,400. Beginning in 2026, this stipend will be subject to annual increases based on the Consumer Price Index.

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025 establishes permanent, higher base pay rates for federal wildland firefighters based on their GS grade. It also creates a significant daily premium pay bonus for time spent responding to qualifying wildfire incidents. Finally, the bill mandates new paid rest and recuperation leave for firefighters following deployment to ensure proper recovery.

The Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act of 2025 allows individuals to exclude from their gross income any payments or benefits they receive from state-based catastrophe loss mitigation programs designed to help homeowners protect their properties from disasters such as windstorms, earthquakes, or wildfires. These payments will not affect the property's basis, and the exclusion is applicable retroactively for taxable years starting after December 31, 2020, allowing individuals to claim the exclusion retroactively.

The Child Care Availability and Affordability Act aims to improve access to affordable child care by expanding employer-provided child care credits, increasing tax-free dependent care assistance, and creating a refundable household and dependent care tax credit. The employer provided child care credit is increased from 25% to 50% of qualified expenses, and the maximum credit amount is raised from $150,000 to $500,000. The amount of tax-free employer-provided dependent care assistance is increased from $5,000 to $7,500. A new tax credit is created for employment-related expenses paid for household and dependent care, with the applicable percentage starting at 50% and decreasing based on income, and the maximum creditable expenses are $5,000 for one qualifying individual and $8,000 for two or more.

The Access to Credit for our Rural Economy Act of 2025 (ACRE Act) creates a new federal tax incentive for qualified lenders. This incentive excludes income earned from interest on loans secured by rural or agricultural real property from taxation. The goal is to encourage lending for agricultural, forestry, and certain rural home improvement purposes while prohibiting loans to foreign adversary entities.

The Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act directs the Department of Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, and half-dollar coins in 2027 to commemorate the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente. The coins' designs will represent Clemente's life, including his baseball achievements and humanitarian work. Surcharges from the coin sales will benefit the Roberto Clemente Foundation, supporting their educational programs, youth sports initiatives, disaster relief efforts, and historic preservation projects. The Act ensures that the coin program will not incur any net cost to the United States government.

The Humane Cosmetics Act of 2025 bans cosmetic animal testing in the U.S. and restricts the use of animal testing data for cosmetic safety, with certain exceptions. It authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to impose civil penalties for non-compliance and preempts states from enacting conflicting regulations. The Act defines key terms related to cosmetic animal testing and cosmetics.

The Supporting Innovation in Agriculture Act of 2025 introduces a tax credit for investments in innovative agricultural technology, aiming to boost the production, storage, and processing of specialty crops through precision and controlled environment agriculture. This credit covers 30% of qualified investments in projects using technologies like precision agriculture and controlled environment agriculture, effective for construction starting after January 1, 2025, and includes options for direct payment or transfer of the credit.

The "Grown in America Act of 2025" introduces a tax credit for businesses that use domestic agricultural commodities in their products for human consumption. This credit, capped at $100,000,000, aims to incentivize the use of U.S.-produced agricultural inputs by offering a tax benefit based on the percentage of domestic agricultural commodities used. The percentage of domestic inputs required to receive the full credit increases over time, with the Secretary of Agriculture maintaining a list of agricultural commodities that cannot be produced domestically. These provisions will be effective for taxable years starting after December 31, 2025.

This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to procure a statue of Benjamin Franklin for permanent display within the United States Capitol. The statue is required to be acquired by the end of 2025 and installed in a publicly accessible location by December 31, 2026.

This resolution condemns the Iranian regime for its ongoing human rights abuses, state-sponsored terrorism, and regional instability. It expresses strong support for the Iranian people's struggle for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic. Furthermore, the bill advocates for international accountability for the regime's crimes and calls for the protection of Iranian political refugees.

This bill authorizes the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 761st Tank Battalion, also known as the "Black Panthers," in recognition of their courageous service and crucial contributions during World War II. The medal will be given to the National Museum of African American History and Culture for display, honoring the 761st as the first Black soldiers to serve in an American armored unit and their significant role in the Allied victory in Europe. The bill also allows for the creation and sale of bronze duplicates of the medal to support the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.