Thomas Suozzi

PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and establishes actions by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address preterm birth (i.e., babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy).

Specifically, the bill reauthorizes epidemiological studies, data tracking, and prevention efforts conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related to preterm birth.

Also, the bill requires HHS to establish an interagency working group to improve federal coordination and provide recommendations on preventing preterm birth, infant mortality, and related adverse birth outcomes.

Additionally, HHS must arrange for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study preterm birth in the United States and report to HHS and Congress on certain aspects, including the financial costs and strategies to reduce the rate of preterm birth.

This bill prohibits using federal funds to support or facilitate (1) Russia's participation in a Group of Seven (G-7) proceeding, or (2) a reconstituted Group of Eight (G-8) that includes Russia. (The G-7 is an informal group consisting of seven of the world's largest advanced economies. In 2014, the G-8 became the G-7 when Russia 's membership was suspended following Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.)

Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025

This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. (Generally, individuals must have been an inpatient at a hospital for at least three days in order to qualify for SNF services. An individual's time spent under observation at a hospital for purposes of determining whether the individual should be admitted does not count towards this requirement.)

New York-New Jersey Watershed Protection Act of 2025

This bill establishes programs to restore and protect the New York-New Jersey Watershed. The watershed is composed of all land area the surface water of which drains into the New York-New Jersey Harbor, the waters contained within that land area, and associated estuaries.

Specifically, the bill requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish the New York-New Jersey Watershed Restoration Program, a nonregulatory program, to coordinate restoration and protection activities among government entities and conservation partners throughout the watershed.

The bill also establishes the New York-New Jersey Watershed Restoration Grant Program, a voluntary grant and technical assistance program, to provide competitive matching grants to certain entities to implement restoration and protection activities for the watershed. The federal government may not maintain ownership of any land acquired under the bill except for the purpose of promptly transferring ownership to grant recipients.

The bill ceases to have force or effect on October 1, 2031.

Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act

This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue coins in recognition of the life of Roberto Clemente, baseball player and human rights activist. All sales of coins issued under this bill must include a surcharge to be paid to the Roberto Clemente Foundation.

Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act of 2025 or as the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025

This bill addresses various immigration-related issues, including by requiring higher pay for U.S. Border Patrol agents, deferring the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status, and implementing a mandatory electronic employment eligibility verification system patterned off the E-Verify system.

The bill establishes several programs for individuals present in the United States without lawful status, including a path to lawful permanent resident status for qualified individuals, including those with deferred action for childhood arrival (DACA) status. In addition, the bill establishes the Dignity Program, which defers the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status on a seven-year, renewable basis, provided individuals meet employment or education requirements, pay restitution, and satisfy other conditions.

The bill also makes various changes to penalties and processes applicable to individuals entering the United States, for example by

• increasing the maximum criminal penalty for individuals previously removed or denied admission to the United States who attempt to reenter,

• authorizing the use of DNA testing to verify family relationships of immigrants, and

• establishing campuses at the border to process asylees.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must create, and U.S. employers must use, a nationwide electronic employment eligibility verification system.

Furthermore, DHS may grant relatives of U.S. citizens relief from removal.

The bill also increases the per country percentage ceiling for family-sponsored and employment-based visas.

Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership Act or the PREVAIL Act

This bill addresses various issues relating to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including by imposing additional requirements on administrative patent validity challenges (proceedings to review and potentially cancel issued patents) at the USPTO.

The bill modifies provisions relating to inter partes reviews (IPRs) and other administrative patent validity proceedings, including by

• prohibiting an administrative patent judge who participated in deciding whether to institute an IPR (i.e., whether to allow the IPR to proceed based on the initial petition) from also participating in deciding the final outcome of the same IPR;

• prohibiting a person (individual or entity) from petitioning for an IPR against a patent unless the person meets certain standing requirements (currently, any person may petition for an IPR);

• prohibiting a person who has challenged a patent's validity in an IPR from raising the same challenges against the patent in other proceedings (e.g., district court) if the IPR has been instituted; and

• raising the burden that the petitioner in an IPR must meet to invalidate a previously issued patent claim.

The bill also makes institutions of higher education (IHEs) and nonprofit entities that hold patents on behalf of IHEs eligible for reduced patent-related fees, including filing fees. (Currently, employees of IHEs are eligible for reduced fees but not the IHEs themselves.)

The bill also makes fees collected by the USPTO available for the USPTO's use without further appropriations from Congress.

Realizing Engineering, Science, and Technology Opportunities by Restoring Exclusive Patent Rights Act of 2025 or the RESTORE Patent Rights Act of 2025

This bill establishes a rebuttable presumption for injunctive relief in patent infringement cases. Specifically, if a court enters a final judgment finding infringement of a right secured by patent, the patent owner shall be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the court should grant a permanent injunction with respect to that infringing conduct.

(In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court held in eBay v. MercExchange that patent holders do not have an automatic right to a permanent injunction in a patent infringement case.)