Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2023 This bill expands the circumstances under which the Department of Justice (DOJ) is required to report to Congress on a policy to refrain from enforcing federal law. Currently, DOJ is required to report to Congress when the Attorney General or other DOJ officer establishes or implements a non-enforcement policy on the grounds that the relevant provision of law is unconstitutional. This bill requires DOJ to report to Congress when any federal officer establishes or implements a non-enforcement policy on any grounds. Further, the bill requires the report to state the grounds for the non-enforcement policy.
This bill increases from two to three the total number of U.S. district court judgeships for the District of Idaho. The President must appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, one additional judge for that judicial district.
Stopping Abusive Student Loan Collection Practices in Bankruptcy Act of 2023 This bill requires a bankruptcy court to grant a debtor attorney's fees and the costs of the proceeding if (1) the debtor's student loan debt is discharged on the basis of undue hardship, and (2) the court finds that the creditor's position was not substantially justified.
Stop Enabling Repeat Violence and Endangering Our Communities Act or the SERVE Our Communities Act This bill authorizes the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to states and local governments for mentoring, transitional services, and training to help offenders successfully reintegrate back into the community after incarceration. To be eligible for a grant, a state or local government must take steps to prevent repeat offenses by violent offenders and allow a state court or magistrate to consider the danger an individual poses to the community when determining bail or pretrial release conditions.
Improving the Federal Response to Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023 This bill requires various federal agencies to develop a strategy to improve coordination with state and local law enforcement entities to address organized retail crime. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Service, and other relevant agencies to improve federal information sharing about organized retail crime networks; assist state and local law enforcement in compiling materials and evidence necessary to prosecute organized retail crime; and increase cooperation and information sharing between federal agencies, the retail industry, and retail crime task forces. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on coordination between the private sector and law enforcement to deter and investigate organized retail crime.
Legal Workforce Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after and to replace the E-Verify system, which allows employers and recruiters to verify the immigration status of individuals. The bill also mandates the use of such a system, where currently only some employers, such as those with federal contracts, are required to use E-Verify. The bill specifies documents that can establish an individual's identity and employment authorization. During the period starting when a job offer is made until three business days after hiring, the individual must attest to his or her employment authorization, and the employer or recruiter must attest that it has examined the individual's required documents. Employers shall reverify certain types of employees who were not previously verified using E-verify. The Social Security Administration shall notify employees if their Social Security number has been used multiple times in an unusual manner. DHS shall establish programs for blocking and suspending misused numbers. Employers that are required to use the verification system shall not be liable for any employment-related action based on a good-faith reliance on the information from the system. The bill establishes a phased-in participation deadline for different categories of employers, including agricultural employers. The bill increases civil penalties related to hiring individuals without work authorization. It also preempts state laws relating to hiring and employment eligibility verification, but states may use their authority of business licensing to penalize employers for failing to comply with the bill's provisions.
David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2022 or David’s Law This bill adds hate crime offenses and penalties to the criminal civil rights statute that prohibits interference with federally protected activities. Current law already prohibits and penalizes similar offenses under the criminal civil rights statute that prohibits hate crime offenses. Additionally, the bill authorizes state and local grants to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. It also authorizes the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice to hire additional personnel to prevent and respond to alleged criminal civil rights offenses involving interference with federally protected activities. Finally, the bill directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to study whether it is appropriate to provide a sentencing enhancement for adult defendants who recruit minors to commit hate crime offenses.
Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act of 2023 This bill establishes requirements for physicians who perform abortions and abortion clinics. Specifically, the bill requires a physician who performs an abortion (1) to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital; and (2) at the time of the abortion, to notify the patient of the hospital location where the patient can receive follow-up care if complications arise. A physician who fails to comply is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to two years, or both. A woman who undergoes an abortion may not be prosecuted. The bill also requires an abortion clinic, in order to receive federal funds or assistance, to (1) be licensed by the state in which it is located, and (2) be in compliance with federal standards for ambulatory surgical centers.
Help Ensure Legal Detainers Act or the HELD Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds by a state or local subdivision that has in effect a law, policy, or procedure that prevents or impedes a timely response to a request by the Department of Homeland Security for information about an alien in custody, including the alien's estimated release date; or compliance with a detainer request.
Thin Blue Line Act This bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.
Responsible Path to Full Obamacare Repeal Act This bill repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective at the beginning of FY2024. Provisions of law amended by those acts are restored.
Justice for Victims of Kleptocracy Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Justice to publish and regularly update its website with an accounting of property that is forfeited to the United States as a result of foreign government corruption. It also expresses the sense of Congress that recovered assets shall be returned for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption.
Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2023 This bill modifies the treatment of certain student loans in bankruptcy. Specifically, it allows private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy regardless of whether a debtor demonstrates undue hardship. Under current law, student loans may be discharged in bankruptcy only if the loans impose an undue hardship on the debtor.
Voter Integrity Protection Act This bill imposes additional immigration-related penalties for non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who vote in an election for federal office. It shall be an aggravated felony for a non-U.S. national who is unlawfully present to violate an existing prohibition against a non-U.S. national voting in a federal election. (An aggravated felony conviction carries various immigration consequences, such as rendering the non-U.S. national inadmissible, deportable, and barred from establishing good moral character for naturalization.) A non-U.S. national who is unlawfully present and who knowingly violates the prohibition against voting in a federal election shall be deportable.