Burgess Owens

North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act

This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to recognize the individuals and communities that provided financial and other support for the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, during World War II.

This resolution supports the designation of Charleston, South Carolina, as the host city for the 2027 annual session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026

This bill provides that an organization’s religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage, sexuality, or gender identity may not be treated as inconsistent with public law or policy for purposes of determining whether the organization has a charitable purpose and, thus, is exempt from federal income tax.

As background, charitable organizations generally must be organized and operated for one or more tax-exempt purposes (e.g., religious, charitable, scientific, or educational) to be exempt from federal income tax and receive tax-deductible contributions. The Internal Revenue Service’s position, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Bob Jones University v. United States, is that an organization is not organized or operated for a tax-exempt purpose if the organization is against public policy or illegal.

The bill provides that a religious belief or practice concerning marriage, sexuality or gender identity may not be treated as being inconsistent with public law or policy for purposes of determining if an organization is organized and operated for a tax-exempt purpose. Further, under the bill, a belief need not be compelled by or central to a system of religion to be a religious belief.

Hauling Exemptions for Livestock Protection Act or the HELP Act

This bill exempts livestock hauling vehicles and the vehicle operators from hours of service and electronic logging device (ELD) requirements. The exemption applies to a hauling vehicle carrying livestock (i.e., livestock, insects, or aquatic animals) and to a vehicle that is picking up or returning from delivering livestock (i.e., an unladen vehicle).

Under current law, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules limit how many hours most commercial truck drivers can drive and work and requires a vehicle to be equipped with an ELD, which tracks how long a vehicle has been driving. Limited exemptions exist, including for livestock hauling.

This bill designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 South Main Street in Glendale, Utah, as the "Deputy Sheriff Brian Harris Post Office".

No Antisemitism in Education Act of 2026

This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs), as a condition of receiving federal funds, to treat discrimination that is motivated by antisemitism as vigorously as the LEA or IHE treats all other forms of discrimination prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs or activities.)

The bill requires federal agencies, LEAs, and IHEs to consider the definition of antisemitism contained in a December 11, 2019, executive order when reviewing or investigating whether a discriminatory act or omission was motivated by discriminatory antisemitic intent. The executive order incorporates the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA's) working definition of antisemitism. According to the IHRA's working definition, antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.

This bill permanently allows audiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists to furnish telehealth services under Medicare.

Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act

This bill limits third-party financing of civil litigation by foreign entities in federal courts and establishes related disclosure requirements.

The bill makes it unlawful for a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund to provide any monetary support for a civil action in which it is not a named party. The bill also makes it unlawful for any party or counsel to receive monetary support for civil litigation from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund that is not a party.

The bill also prohibits third-party litigation funding agreements involving money from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund in which someone other than named parties or counsel of record receives a payment that is contingent on the outcome or proceeds from the civil action or from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action.

The bill requires any party or counsel in a civil action to disclose the name of any foreign person, state, or sovereign wealth fund that has agreed to provide monetary support for the civil action, has a right to receive a payment contingent upon the outcome of the civil action, or has the right to receive payment that is contingent on proceeds from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action.

The bill also requires parties to produce the agreement creating a contingent right to payment.

These requirements apply to claims that are pending on or commenced after this bill's date of enactment.

Save Healthcare Workers Act

This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting hospital personnel during the performance of their official duties in a manner that interferes with their performance of the duties or limits their ability to perform the duties.

Violations are subject to a fine, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both. Violations that involve dangerous weapons, result in bodily injury, or are committed during a declared public emergency are subject to an enhanced penalty of a fine, imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both.

Additionally, the bill authorizes grants to reduce the incidence of violence at hospitals, including violence or intimidation against hospital personnel in the performance of their duties.

Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act of 2026 or the GUARD Act of 2026

This bill allows state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and grantees that receive funds from certain law enforcement grant programs to use the funds to investigate general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, and pig butchering. Pig butchering refers to a confidence and investment fraud in which a victim is gradually lured into transferring increasing amounts of money, generally in the form of cryptocurrency, into a fake virtual investment.

The bill allows federal law enforcement agencies to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in the use of tracing tools for blockchain and related technology tools.

Finally, the bill requires the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to report on efforts to combat general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and scams, including an evaluation of any legislative recommendations to improve the efforts. The bill also requires FinCEN to report on the state of general financial fraud, elder financial fraud, pig butchering, and scams in the United States, including trends in the crimes.