<p><b>Ensuring the Safety of Our Mail Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill increases from 5 to 10 years the maximum prison term for a defendant who commits mail theft.<b><br /></b></p>

<p><strong>Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2023</strong></p> <p> This bill establishes programs and grants to incentivize landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher program (i.e., Section 8 tenant-based housing assistance). </p> <p>The bill authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide one-time incentive payments to landlords, security deposit payments, bonuses to public housing agencies that employ landlord liaisons, and amounts for other recruitment purposes. </p> <p>The bill also reauthorizes through FY2028 the Tribal Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. </p> <p>Additionally, the bill allows dwelling units to meet Housing Choice Voucher program inspection requirements by satisfactory inspection through participation in other housing programs. </p> <p>Landlords not yet participating in a low-income housing assistance program may request inspection by a public housing agency to determine whether the dwelling meets requirements prior to selection by a tenant. </p> <p>Finally, HUD must expand the use of an alternative method of calculating fair market rent for purposes of the Housing Choice Voucher program.</p>

<p><strong>Targeting Child Care Funds Based on Poverty Act of 202</strong><b>3</b></p> <p>This bill allocates certain funding for child care to states based on the state's share of children in poverty who are under 13 years of age.</p>

<p><b>Student Empowerment Act </b></p> <p>This bill allows tax-exempt distributions from qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans) to be used for additional educational expenses in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school. </p> <p>(Under current law, distributions in connection with an elementary or secondary school are limited to tuition for a public, private, or religious school.) The bill allows the distributions to be used for additional educational expenses, including</p> <ul> <li>curriculum and curricular materials, </li> <li>books or other instructional materials, </li> <li>online educational materials, </li> <li>tutoring or educational classes outside the home, </li> <li>testing fees, </li> <li>fees for dual enrollment in an institution of higher education, and </li> <li>educational therapies for students with disabilities.</li> </ul> <p>Distributions may also be used for tuition and the purposes above in connection with a homeschool (whether treated as a homeschool or a private school under state law).</p>

<p><strong>Working Families Childcare Access Act of 2023 or the WFCA Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill includes certain additional expenses in a dependent care flexible spending arrangement (FSA), specifically qualified sports, tutoring, and music or art expenses. It also increases the eligibility age for dependent care benefits to 15, allows a carry forward of unused benefits to the next plan year, and increases to $15,000 the maximum amount of dependent care benefits excludible from employee gross income.</p>

<p><b>Supporting Providers of English Language Learning Act or the SPELL Act</b></p> <p>This bill allows elementary and secondary school teachers who teach English learners, bilingual students, or dual language immersion students to receive additional amounts of student loan forgiveness and loan cancellation.</p>

Recognizing the roles and the contributions of Americas Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and their critical role in providing quality health care for the public and the Nation's Armed Forces for more than 150 years, through multiple public health emergencies, and beyond.

<p><strong>Western Wildfire Support Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill establishes activities to address wildfires.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>The bill establishes </p> <ul> <li>accounts in the Treasury for addressing wildfires,</li> <li>a program to train and certify citizens who wish to be able to volunteer to assist USDA or Interior during a wildland fire incident,</li> <li> 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, </li> <li>the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for the management of wildfire-related invasive species, and </li> <li>the Management of Wildfire-Related Invasive Species Technology Advisory Board.</li> </ul> <p>The bill also </p><ul> <li> 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,</li> <li> 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, </li> <li> requires federal and state disaster preparedness programs to include postdisaster assistance, and</li> <li>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.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>American Beef Labeling Act of 202</strong><b>3</b></p> <p>This bill reinstates mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill requires the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to develop a means of reinstating the requirements that complies with the rules of the World Trade Organization. The USTR and the Department of Agriculture must implement the means within one year.</p>

<p><b>Full Faith and Credit Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to prioritize certain obligations if the federal debt limit is reached and provides for a limited increase in the debt limit to fund these priorities. </p> <p>If the federal government reaches the debt limit, the following obligations must be given equal priority over all other federal obligations:</p> <ul> <li> the principal and interest on the debt held by the public;</li> <li>Social Security benefits;</li> <li>pay and allowances for members of the Armed Forces on active duty and members of the U.S. Coast Guard;</li> <li>compensation, pensions, and payments for medical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and</li> <li>the Medicare programs.</li> </ul> <p>If the debt limit has been reached and incoming revenue will be insufficient to pay the priority obligations over an upcoming two-week period, the bill requires (1) Treasury to notify Congress of the expected revenue shortfall for the two-week period, and (2) the debt limit to be increased by the amount of the expected shortfall. </p> <p>If the incoming revenue exceeds the expected shortfall, the excess revenue must be held in reserve and applied to the following two-week period. </p>

To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human trafficking, and for other purposes.

Electing Members to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives.

<p><b>Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023 </b></p> <p>This bill establishes the Interagency Task Force on Patents to support coordination and communication between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on activities relating to patents for human drugs and biological products. </p> <p>The task force's duties shall include sharing information about (1) the processes of each agency, including how each agency evaluates applications (e.g., patent applications at the PTO and new drug applications at the FDA); and (2) new approvals of patents, human drugs, biological products, and new technologies. The task force must also establish a process that requires (1) the PTO to request from the FDA information relating to certain patent applications to help patent examiners carry out their duties, (2) the FDA to provide such information to the PTO, and (3) the PTO to assist the FDA in its ministerial role of listing patents.</p>

To amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act to create an exemption for certain shoreline borrow sites.

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require publication on the internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered species or threatened species, and for other purposes.