Ritchie Torres

Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act of 2025

This bill removes limitations on the civil liability of gun manufacturers and the disclosure of gun trace data in civil actions.

Specifically, the bill repeals the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prohibits civil actions against a firearm or ammunition manufacturer, seller, importer, dealer, or trade association for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm.

Additionally, the bill states that firearms trace data maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is not immune from legal process. Such data is subject to discovery; is admissible as evidence; and may be used, relied on, or disclosed in a civil action or administrative proceeding.

Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2025

This bill expands access to menstrual products (e.g., tampons) in certain locations and for particular groups, such as in schools and for low-income individuals, through federal programs and requirements. It also prohibits state or local sales taxes for these products.

The bill expands access to menstrual products through federal programs by

• requiring Medicaid to cover such products,

• establishing grants within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to provide benefits to ensure access to such products,

• authorizing the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to provide menstrual products to homeless individuals, and

• increasing Social Services Block Grant funding to provide such products to low-income individuals.

Also, the bill sets out requirements to make free menstrual products available in federal and state correctional facilities (including Department of Homeland Security detention facilities) and restrooms in federal buildings that are open to the public.

Further, the bill (1) establishes grants to provide free menstrual products to students at institutions of higher education, and (2) permits elementary and secondary schools to use certain grant funds to provide menstrual products to students.

In addition, the bill requires employers with at least 100 employees to provide free menstrual products for employees.

Finally, the bill prohibits states and local governments from taxing retail sales of menstrual products.

Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 or the CLARITY Act of 2025

This bill establishes a regulatory framework for digital commodities, defined by the bill as digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission must generally regulate digital commodities transactions, including digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. To qualify for trade on an exchange (1) a digital commodity’s blockchain must be mature, or on a blockchain system that has achieved decentralized control as defined by the bill; or (2) the issuer of the digital commodity must file certain reports. The bill establishes requirements for trade monitoring, recordkeeping, and the commingling of customer assets.

The bill exempts digital commodities on mature blockchains (and digital commodities on blockchains expected to mature within certain timeframes) from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements if annual sales fall under a certain amount and other requirements are met. The bill provides the SEC with jurisdiction over digital commodity activities and transactions engaged in by certain brokers and dealers on alternative trading systems and by national securities exchanges.

Digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act for anti-money laundering and related purposes.

The bill also sets forth requirements for alternative trading systems, previously issued digital commodities, and provisional registration until the bill is implemented.

For more information on this bill, see CRS Insight IN12583, Crypto Legislation: An Overview of H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act.

Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act

This bill requires the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program to identify deceased members of the Armed Forces who were Jewish and buried in a U.S. military cemetery located outside of the United States under a marker indicating the member was not Jewish. The program must contact survivors and descendants of such members.

The ABMC must seek to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to carry out the program during the first 10 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of the bill.

Stop Trading, Retention, and Unfair Market Payoffs in Crypto Act of 2025 or the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act of 2025

This bill prohibits certain government officials and their families from engaging in specified activities involving digital assets (including financial contracts, products, or instruments that derive their value from a digital asset).

Specifically, the President, the Vice President, and Members of Congress (and their spouses, children, and children's spouses) are prohibited from

• owning a proportion of such an asset that allows the individual to unilaterally make changes to the asset;

• serving as an officer, director, or owner of an asset issuer;

• issuing, sponsoring, promoting, or receiving any direct or indirect compensation for the sale, marketing, or mining of such an asset in the United States or to a person in the United States; or

• trading assets while the official is in office if the individual has material non-public information about such assets.

The bill also prohibits indirect engagement in such activities through intermediaries such as trusts or corporations or through other arrangements intended to conceal the individual’s beneficial ownership or control.

Individuals who violate this bill are subject to penalties including fines and imprisonment.

College for All Act of 2025

This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Specifically, the bill provides funding to enable states and tribal colleges and universities, through a federal-state partnership, to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities, and (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education and tribal colleges and universities.

The bill provides funding to enable private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to eliminate tuition and required fees for eligible students.

The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by

• providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student,

• increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants,

• allowing students to use their awards to cover living and nontuition expenses, and

• expanding eligibility to Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and who entered the United States before the age of 16) and students with other immigration statuses.

Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to eligible states and tribal colleges and universities for improving student outcomes.

The bill reauthorizes through FY2035 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2029 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2025

This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards; (2) annually submit to the CMS for publication specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations.

The CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology must publish on the CMS' website a report that analyzes the information received from MA plans, the feasibility of implementing real-time decision making with respect to prior authorization requests, and the impact of decisions that are made using artificial intelligence on patient access.

Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act

This bill expedites payment of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eligibility for Medicare coverage for those with metastatic breast cancer (i.e., breast cancer that has spread to other sites in the body).

Specifically, the bill eliminates the 5-month waiting period for SSDI benefits and the subsequent 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals with metastatic breast cancer. Under current law, individuals generally must wait 5 months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits and an additional 24 months to become eligible for Medicare.

Give Kids a Chance Act of 2025

This bill expands the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) authority with respect to research on rare pediatric diseases, including by permitting the FDA to take enforcement action against drug sponsors that fail to satisfy pediatric study requirements and by reauthorizing programs that support pediatric research.

Specifically, the bill

• modifies requirements relating to molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations to permit research on new drugs in combination with active ingredients that have already been approved, provided certain conditions are met;

• permits the FDA to take enforcement action against drug sponsors that fail to comply with pediatric study requirements, if such sponsors demonstrated a lack of due diligence in satisfying the requirement;

• renews the FDA’s authority to award priority review vouchers to sponsors of new products intended to treat rare pediatric diseases through September 30, 2029; and

• reauthorizes through FY2027 certain funding for the National Institutes of Health to support priority pediatric research.

The bill also provides statutory authority for the FDA’s interpretation of the orphan drug exclusivity period. The bill specifies, consistent with FDA regulations, that the seven-year market exclusivity period for drugs for rare diseases or conditions (i.e., orphan drugs) prohibits the approval of the same drug for the same approved use or indication with respect to the disease or condition. (In Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Becerra, a court rejected the FDA’s interpretation and held that orphan drug exclusivity extends to all uses or indications for the disease or condition.)

Access to Small Business Investor Capital Act

This bill allows a registered investment company to exclude from the calculation of acquired fund fees and expenses those incurred indirectly from investment in a business development company. Acquired fund fees and expenses is a required line item on a fund's fee schedule that provides the operating expenses of the fund.

Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act

This bill expands the expenses eligible for tax-free withdrawals from a qualified tuition program (known as a 529 plan) to include tuition, fees (including test fees), books, supplies, equipment, and other expenses related to the enrollment or attendance in a recognized postsecondary credentialing program.

Under the bill, a recognized postsecondary credentialing program includes certain programs identified by a state as providing training services, a program listed in the Web Enabled Approval Management System (WEAMS) maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs, certain examinations required to obtain or maintain a credential, and other reputable credentialing programs.

Further, under the bill, such programs must be designed for an individual to obtain

• an industry-recognized postsecondary employment credential (e.g., project management professional certificate, advanced emergency medical technician certificate, and welding supervisor certificate),

• a certificate of completion of a registered and certified apprenticeship,

• an occupational or professional license issued or recognized by a state or the federal government (and any certification required for obtaining such license), or

• an associate or baccalaureate degree.

Increasing Investor Opportunities Act

This bill allows a closed-end fund—a portfolio of pooled assets with a limited number of shares traded on an exchange—to increase its investment in private investment funds. Specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission is prohibited from limiting the sale or listing of securities of a closed-end fund that invests in private investment funds. This bill also apples to a closed-end company treated as a business development company.

Small Entity Update Act

This bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study approaches to reduce the impact of SEC rules on small businesses and other small entities, make appropriate recommendations, and revise applicable rules.

Specifically, the bill requires the SEC to evaluate the current definition of small entity with respect to SEC rules.

Under the bill, the SEC must provide specific and detailed recommendations to Congress on how the SEC can revise the definition of small entity to (1) align with specified statutory goals, including reducing unnecessary burdens on small entities; and (2) expand the number of entities covered. In addition, the SEC must adjust for inflation every five years any dollar amounts used to define small entities.

The SEC must also revise the applicable rules to implement these recommendations.

Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act of 2025

This bill establishes a budget point of order against considering budget reconciliation legislation in the House or the Senate that (1) reduces enrollment or benefits for individuals enrolled in the Medicaid program, or (2) reduces eligibility or benefits for households that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

(Under current law, reconciliation bills are considered by Congress using expedited legislative procedures that prevent a filibuster and restrict amendments in the Senate.)

The point of order expires on January 20, 2029.