Religious Insignia on Dog Tags Act This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow trademarks owned or controlled by DOD to be combined with religious insignia on commercial identification tags (i.e., dog tags) and to be sold by lawful trademark licensees. The bill applies retroactively to September 13, 2013.
Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act This bill modifies provisions related to military retired pay. Specifically, the bill authorizes veterans with a service-connected disability of less than 50% to concurrently receive both retired pay and disability compensation. The bill also makes qualified disability retirees with less than 20 years of retirement-creditable service eligible for concurrent receipt, subject to specified reductions in retired pay.
Safe Bases Act of 2023 This bill provides statutory authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow a service member to carry a concealed firearm while on any military installation. DOD must establish a single authority within the department to issue permits for this purpose. To be eligible for a permit, the service member must be on active duty and must not be prohibited under federal law from purchasing, owning, or possessing a firearm.
Religious Insignia on Dog Tags Act This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow trademarks owned or controlled by DOD to be combined with religious insignia on commercial identification tags (i.e., dog tags) and to be sold by lawful trademark licensees. The bill applies retroactively to September 13, 2013.
Service Restoration Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to require a member of the Armed Forces, or a cadet or midshipman at a military service academy, to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, no such individuals may be subject to adverse action solely on the basis of a refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. At the request of an individual who was involuntarily separated from an Armed Force solely because of a refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, the military department concerned must reinstate the individual as a member of the Armed Force in the same rank and grade the individual held at the time of separation, expunge from the individual's military service record any reference to adverse action related to the refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, and include the period between the involuntary separation and reinstatement in the computation of retired or retainer pay of the individual. The bill requires that the discharge of members due to the failure to obey a lawful order to receive a COVID-19 vaccination must be categorized as an honorable discharge, including for individuals who were discharged prior to the enactment of this bill.
Focus on the Mission Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the Department of Defense from requiring the recipient of a federal contract to provide a greenhouse gas inventory or to provide any other report on greenhouse gas emissions.
Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2023 or the AMERICANS Act This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate. Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason. Under the bill, DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers. Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions. This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Western Wildfire Support Act of 2023 This bill establishes activities to address wildfires. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior to establish spatial fire management plans before the end of FY2026. The bill establishes accounts in the Treasury for addressing wildfires, a program to train and certify citizens who wish to be able to volunteer to assist USDA or Interior during a wildland fire incident, a program to award grants to eligible states or units of local government to acquire slip-on tank and pump units for a surge capacity of resources for fire suppression, the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for the management of wildfire-related invasive species, and the Management of Wildfire-Related Invasive Species Technology Advisory Board. The bill also requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to reimburse a state or federal agency for the costs of wildfire suppression as a result of a fire caused by DOD activity, requires the Joint Fire Science Program to work with unmanned aircraft test ranges to carry out research and development of unmanned aircraft system fire applications, requires federal and state disaster preparedness programs to include postdisaster assistance, and authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide funding to a state agency to establish and operate a website to provide information relating to postfire recovery funding and resources to a community or an individual impacted by a wildland fire.
Parris Island Protection Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to close or realign Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island in South Carolina, or to conduct any planning or other activity related to such closure or realignment.
Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2023 or the AMERICANS Act This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate. Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason. Under the bill, DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers. Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions. This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Condemning the Trump administration for the use of an unauthorized method of communicating highly sensitive or potentially classified information regarding a United States military operation via the messaging platform "Signal".