Eugene Vindman

This concurrent resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a congressional authorization for use of military force against Iran.

Elements of the U.S. Armed Forces needed to defend the United States, an ally, or a partner from imminent attack are not covered by this requirement provided the President complies with a specified provision of the War Powers Resolution. (The provision generally requires the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities no more than 60 days after the President notifies or is required to notify Congress of such involvement, unless Congress authorizes such use. For more information on the War Powers Resolution, see CRS In Focus 13134.)

Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Reauthorization Act of 2026

This act reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises programs that support research and development of drugs and other therapies to address amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The act reauthorizes

• grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for scientific research on investigational drugs to prevent or treat ALS for individuals not otherwise eligible for clinical trials,

• grants from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for research and development of therapies to prevent and treat ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, and

• a Public-Private Partnership including the FDA and NIH that supports development and regulatory review of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

Also, the NIH, in considering renewal of its grants, must assess available information on the safety and efficacy of the investigational drugs. It must also require grantees to promptly report serious and unexpected adverse events associated with their investigational drugs.

Additionally, the FDA must publish a plan describing actions it will take over a five-year period to foster development of safe and effective drugs, and facilitate access to investigational drugs, that treat ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. The FDA must also publish a report describing the actions it has taken under the plan.

Aviation Medication Transparency Act of 2025

This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to compile, publish, and annually update a list of medications that may be safely prescribed to pilots and air traffic controllers for the purposes of issuing a medical certification. The list must be publicly available on the FAA website and distributed to those seeking a license and medical certification.

Currently, the FAA does not have a list of approved medications. However, the FAA does have lists for Aviation Medical Examiners of Do Not Issue medications and Do Not Fly medications.

CHAMPVA Children's Care Protection Act of 2025

This bill provides that a child shall be eligible for medical care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) until the child's 26th birthday, regardless of the child's marital status.

Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises programs that help patients receive transplants of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood from biologically unrelated donors. These programs are administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The bill reauthorizes the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. This program supports transplantation of bone marrow and cord blood by increasing the quantities of donations, providing processes for matching and distributing donated materials to patients, and providing related information and research.

Also, the bill reauthorizes and revises the National Cord Blood Inventory program, through which HRSA contracts with qualified cord blood banks to collect and maintain a supply of high-quality units for transplantation through the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. The bill amends the inventory program by (1) changing the inventory goal from 150,000 units to a sufficient supply as determined by HRSA, (2) requiring HRSA to manage the size and composition of the inventory to maximize clinical utility and efficiency, and (3) defining high quality cord blood unit to mean a unit meeting current industry standards and the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration.

Scientific Integrity Act

This bill requires each federal agency that funds, conducts, or oversees scientific research to adopt and enforce a scientific integrity policy.

Under the bill, among other parameters, such policies must (1) ensure that scientific conclusions are not based on political considerations, (2) prohibit the suppression or alteration of findings, and (3) permit researchers to disseminate their findings and engage with the scientific community as appropriate. Scientific integrity policies must also include a mechanism through which stakeholders may report violations of the policy.

Agencies are required to submit their scientific integrity policies to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for approval. Approved policies must be made public, submitted to Congress, and periodically updated. Agencies may use their existing policies provided they satisfy the requirements of the bill. The Government Accountability Office must review implementation of the policies.

Each agency is also required to (1) appoint a Scientific Integrity Officer, (2) establish a process for dispute resolution consistent with the scientific integrity policy, and (3) establish a specified training program for current and new employees.

Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education Act of 2026 or the GAAME Act of 2026

This bill specifies that funds that support the instructional needs of elementary and secondary students from low-income families (i.e., Title I funds) may be used for arts and music programs.

First, the bill specifies that schools operating school-wide programs may include descriptions related to arts and music education in their comprehensive plans. Such a plan may include a description of (1) how sequential, standards-based arts education taught by certified educators and providers meet the challenging state academic standards, and (2) how sequential, standards-based music education taught by certified educators align with the challenging state academic standards.

Second, the bill specifies that schools operating targeted assistance programs may use funds for arts and music programs that address the academic needs of students. This assistance may include providing support for certified educators, professional development, supplies, instruments, and other expenses.

Arts Education for All Act

This bill expands arts education and programming for children in early education, K-12 students, and juveniles and adults in the criminal justice system.

Specifically, the bill allows Child Care and Development Block Grant funding to be used for additional activities, including arts programming.

Additionally, the bill addresses arts programming in elementary and secondary schools by

• directing each state educational agency to include information on arts programming in its state plan, including how it will integrate arts education instruction into the curriculum and increase the number of arts teachers in schools;

• requiring state report cards to include information on arts courses;

• requiring local educational agency (LEA) plans to describe how the LEA will encourage the use of arts education to improve student achievement; and

• allowing certain funds to be used for professional development for arts teachers.

The bill directs the National Center for Education Research to carry out research on the use of arts and arts education in elementary and secondary schools, including in low-performing schools. Further, the National Center for Education Statistics must compile data on arts education.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress must include a specified arts assessment.

The bill requires a state's juvenile justice and delinquency plan to describe how the state will coordinate services and activities for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention with arts agencies and arts organizations. Additionally, grants for adult offender reentry demonstration projects may be used for facilitating arts education.

Provider Reimbursement Stability Act of 2026

This bill allows for larger annual adjustments to the Medicare physician fee schedule. It also requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make certain corrections to compensate for expenditures under the fee schedule that exceed a certain amount in a given year, and it limits how much certain adjustment factors may vary each year.

Current law prohibits annual adjustments to the Medicare physician fee schedule that would result in a more than $20 million difference between the adjusted amount and the non-adjusted amount of total expenditures. The bill increases this threshold to $54.3 million beginning in 2027, with adjustments for inflation every five years beginning in 2032.

Additionally, for certain services, the bill requires the CMS to determine the difference between expenditures based on estimated utilization of the service and expenditures based on actual utilization. If this difference exceeds a certain percentage of total expenditures under the fee schedule, the CMS must reconcile this difference by adjusting payments for the following year. This requirement applies to services for which payment was bundled with another service and there was a separate or add-on payment during the previous year.

Finally, the CMS must update the prices and rates of each category of direct costs that affect payments (e.g., prices of equipment) at least every five years, with updates made to each category in the same year. The bill also prohibits the CMS from varying a certain adjustment factor by more than 2.5% each year.