Nancy Mace

Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act of 2025

This bill provides continuing appropriations to the Coast Guard for pay and benefits when there is a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse.

Under the bill, a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse occurs when (1) a bill providing appropriations for the Coast Guard for a fiscal year has not been enacted before the beginning of that fiscal year, and no joint resolution providing continuing appropriations for the Coast Guard is in effect; and (2) a bill providing appropriations for the Department of Defense (DOD) for the fiscal year has been enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year, or a joint resolution providing continuing appropriation for DOD is in effect.

If a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse occurs, the bill provides appropriations to the Coast Guard for

• pay and allowances for military members of the Coast Guard who perform active service or inactive-duty training;

• pay and benefits for certain civilian employees and contract employees;

• the payment of a death gratuity;

• payments for travel related to funerals, the dignified transfer of remains, and unit memorial services; and

• the temporary continuation of the basic allowance for housing for dependents of members of the Coast Guard dying on active duty.

The bill generally provides the appropriations to the Coast Guard until the earlier of

• the enactment of specified Coast Guard appropriations legislation,

• the termination of the availability of appropriations for DOD, or

• two weeks after the beginning of the Coast Guard-specific funding lapse.

Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE America Act

This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and requires photo identification to vote, in federal elections.

Specifically, the bill prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship.

Further, the bill (1) prohibits states from registering an individual to vote in a federal election unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of U.S. citizenship; and (2) requires states to establish an alternative process to demonstrate U.S. citizenship.

Each state must take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote, which shall include establishing a program to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens using information supplied by certain sources.

Additionally, states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.

The bill (1) provides for a private right of action for certain violations, and (2) establishes criminal penalties for certain offenses.

Individuals voting in federal elections must present an eligible photo identification document. An individual who votes by absentee ballot must submit a copy of their identification document with both the request for, and the submission of, the absentee ballot.

This resolution condemns Iran’s use of military force to suppress civilian protestors and commends the Iranian people in their fight for a democratic Iran. The resolution calls for Iran to cease all threats, intimidation, and violence against peaceful protesters and urges expansion of unrestricted internet access and lines of communication. Lastly, the resolution urges the United States to coordinate with its allies to consider and implement measures to prevent further violence against protesters.

Incentivize Savings Act

This bill establishes requirements for allocating unexpended appropriations for federal agencies.

If appropriations are provided to a federal agency for a definite period and the agency does not spend the funds during the period of availability, the bill requires

• 49% of the funds to remain available for an additional fiscal year,

• 49% of the funds to be used for payments of principal and interest on the public debt, and

• 2% of the funds to be used for retention bonuses within the agency that do not exceed 10% of an employee's basic pay.

If an agency's unexpended appropriations are allocated under this bill, the agency's budget request for the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the funds expired may not exceed the prior year's budget request with an adjustment for inflation.

Hemp Planting Predictability Act

This bill extends by two years the implementation of changes to the regulation of hemp products, which reimpose certain federal controls over some hemp products.

Specifically, Congress enacted the FY2026 agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 119-37) on November 12, 2025. Effective November 12, 2026, the act modifies the statutory definition of hemp products that are considered to be lawful. This bill extends the effective date to November 12, 2028.

As background, the 2018 farm bill excluded hemp from the Controlled Substances Act definition of marijuana and defined hemp. As a result, hemp and hemp-derived products at or below the 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana) concentration threshold were no longer regulated as Schedule I controlled substances and registration with the Drug Enforcement Administration was no longer required to cultivate or handle hemp and hemp-derived products. However, hemp remained subject to Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration regulation.

The 2025 changes to the definition of hemp, include

• changing the limit to a total THC concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis rather than only delta-9 THC,

• explicitly including industrial hemp,

• excluding seeds from a cannabis plant that exceed a certain THC concentration, and

• excluding various types of hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

Cannabinoids refer to unique chemical compounds that are found in hemp and marijuana (e.g., THC) and are known to exhibit a range of psychological and physiological effects.

Military Spouse Hiring Act

This bill allows employers to claim a tax credit for a percentage of qualified wages paid to an employee who is a military spouse by expanding the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to add qualified military spouses as a targeted group. (The WOTC applies to employers who hire members of specific targeted groups, such as veterans, ex-felons, and long-term unemployment recipients, and is generally equal to a percentage of the wages paid to such individuals in the first year of employment, up to a maximum amount. Under current law, the wages must be paid before 2026.)

The bill defines a qualified military spouse as any individual who is certified by a state workforce agency as being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces.

Stopping Border Surges Act

This bill modifies immigration law provisions relating to unaccompanied alien minors and to asylum seekers.

The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to repatriate certain unaccompanied, inadmissible alien children, generally those not at risk of being trafficking victims nor having a fear of persecution. Currently, only inadmissible unaccompanied aliens from neighboring countries are subject to repatriation, and DHS has discretion whether to repatriate.

When the Department of Health and Human Services releases an unaccompanied child to an individual, it shall provide DHS with certain information about that individual, including Social Security number and immigration status.

The bill requires a stricter standard to find a credible fear of persecution and imposes additional rules on credible fear interviews.

If an alien is granted asylum because of fear of persecution in a country, the alien shall be deemed to have renounced asylum status by returning to that country, if there has been no change in the country's conditions.

The bill also (1) expands the definition of what constitutes a frivolous asylum application, (2) imposes additional limitations on eligibility for asylum, (3) shortens the deadline for applying for asylum, and (4) extends the time period an alien seeking asylum must wait before receiving employment authorization.

Any individual who knowingly and willfully makes materially false statements or uses fraudulent documents in asylum-related proceedings shall be fined or imprisoned up to 10 years, or both.

Nuclear Family Priority Act

This bill imposes limits on various types of family-sponsored immigration visas.

The non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives, which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives.

The bill also creates a nonimmigrant visa for such parents of citizens. Such non-U.S. nationals shall not be eligible for employment or any public benefits.

The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 88,000, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000.

The bill eliminates preference allocations (visa categories subject to various annual caps) for various family-sponsored visas, including those for the siblings and married children of citizens. The bill provides for a preference allocation for the unmarried children under 21 and spouses of permanent residents, subject to the 88,000 annual cap.

Security And Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2025 or SAFE for America Act of 2025

This bill eliminates the diversity visa program. This program provides up to 55,000 visas annually to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.