Press Release: Bills Signed: H.R. 263, H.R. 1193, H.R. 5796, H.R. 7077, S. 198, S. 231, S. 1617, S. 2796, S. 3092, S. 3115, S. 3499, S. 3662, S. 3875

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022, the President signed into law: 

H.R. 263, the "Big Cat Public Safety Act," which amends the Lacy Act to limit the breeding and possession of certain big cats;

Thank you to Representatives Quigley, Fitzpatrick, Blumenauer, Buchanan, Garcia, Waltz, McNerney, and Womack, Senators Blumenthal, Collins, Carper, and Burr, and many others for their leadership.

H.R. 1193, the "Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act," which supports research, education, and awareness activities related to valvular heart disease;

Thank you to Representative Barr, Leader McConnell, Senator Sinema, and many others for their leadership.

H.R. 5796, the "Patents for Humanity Act of 2022," which provides statutory authority for a competition to award certificates for patents that address a humanitarian issue, which can be redeemed to accelerate certain matters at the United States Patent and Trademark Office;

Thank you to Representatives Jeffries and Spartz, Senators Leahy and Grassley, and many others for their leadership.

H.R. 7077, Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act;

Thank you to Representatives Torres, Stevens, Meijer, and Anthony Gonzalez, and Senators Gillibrand, Schumer, and Ossoff, and many others for their leadership.

S. 198, the "Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act," which requires the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate data on certain maternal health outcomes into its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform;

Thank you to Senators Rosen, Fischer, Young, and Schatz, Representatives Butterfield, Bilirakis, Blunt Rochester, Gwen Moore, and many others for their leadership.

S. 231, the "Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances Act" or the "PFAS Act," which requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop guidance to protect firefighters and other emergency response personnel from exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances from firefighting foam, commonly referred to as PFAS;

Thank you to Senators Peters, Sullivan, Hassan, Tillis, Carper, Murkowski, and Collins, and Representatives Dingell and Fitzpatrick for their leadership.

S. 1617, the "Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act," which authorizes the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to declare a disaster, under certain circumstances and for purposes of providing disaster assistance loans, in a rural area for which a major disaster was declared by the President and for which individual assistance was not authorized;

Thank you to Senators Risch, Shaheen, Hassan, Kennedy, and Braun, Representative Golden, the late Representative Hagedorn, and many others for their leadership.

S. 2796, the " Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act," which authorizes the Department of Justice to award grants to establish a pilot program for rural areas to implement community response programs that focus on reducing opioid overdose deaths;

Thank you to Senators Ossoff and Grassley, Representatives Lamb, Feenstra, Spanberger, and Miller-Meeks for their leadership.

S. 3092, the "FEMA Improvement, Reform, and Efficiency Act of 2022" or the "FIRE Act," which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct various studies to improve wildfire preparedness and response; ensure that crisis counselors and case management workers are appropriately trained to address the impacts of major disasters on socio-economically disadvantaged communities; and allow Indian tribal governments to apply for grants to upgrade emergency operation centers;

Thank you to Senators Padilla and Wyden, and Representatives Lofgren, Mike Thompson, Huffman, and Panetta, and many others for their leadership.

S. 3115, the "Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2021" or the "POWER 2.0 Act," which amends existing law to make permanent a requirement that the chief judge for each judicial district lead, at least annually, a public event to promote pro bono legal services to empower survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking;

Thank you to Senators Sullivan, Shaheen, Capito, Murkowski, and Hassan, and Representative Peltola for their leadership.

S. 3499, which repeals a provision in current law that requires the Department of Homeland Security to promulgate regulations to minimize the excessive use by contractors of subcontractors for disaster recovery contracts;

Thank you to Senators Peters and Sullivan for their leadership.

S. 3662, the "Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act," which reduces the discharge of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from testing of aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment; and

Thank you to Senators Peters, Moran, Duckworth, Capito, Klobuchar, and Lummis for their leadership.

S. 3875, the "Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022," which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue to maintain a natural hazard assessment program; requires FEMA to designate community disaster resilience zones based on census tract hazard risk ratings; and authorizes FEMA to provide an increased Federal cost share to those communities.

Thank you to Senators Peters and Portman, Representatives Davids, Garret Graves, Williams, Resident Commissioner González-Colón, and many others for their leadership.