Thomas Suozzi

This resolution expresses support for the designation of National Estuaries Week.

Fairness for Khobar Act of 2025

This bill authorizes lump sum catch-up payments from the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism (USVSST) Fund to certain victims of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing or the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing who did not apply for catch-up payments during the application period. The USVSST Fund is administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and provides compensation to certain U.S. persons injured in acts of international state sponsored terrorism and their immediate family members.

The Fairness for 9/11 Families Act, enacted in 2022, authorized and provided funding for lump sum catch-up payments from the USVSST Fund to victims of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing or the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. Claimants who were previously found eligible for regular payment distributions from the USVSST Fund were also eligible for lump sum payments, but the act required them to apply from December 29, 2022, to June 27, 2023. In a 2024 report, the Government Accountability Office found that up to 274 eligible victims did not apply for lump sum catch-up payments because of DOJ guidance that stated, in part, that claimants who were previously found eligible for regular payment distributions are not eligible for the lump sum catch-up payments.

Foreign Robocall Elimination Act

This bill modifies and expands certain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) programs targeting illegal robocalls and creates a task force to advise the federal government on foreign robocalls.

For example, the bill directs the FCC to issue rules under which certain voice service providers (i.e., phone companies) may be required to post a bond before filing required certifications in the Robocall Mitigation Database. (Under current law, providers must file annual certifications in this database regarding their compliance with illegal robocall mitigation requirements. Noncompliant providers are removed from the database and effectively blocked from the U.S. telephone network.) Providers that do not demonstrate legitimate operations, sufficient regulatory oversight, or the ability to pay fines may be subject to the bond requirement. The FCC must establish categorical exemptions for classes of legitimate providers that satisfy certain criteria.

Further, the bill makes changes related to the FCC’s traceback consortium, a group selected by the FCC to conduct private-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected illegal robocalls. Specifically, the bill protects the consortium from liability for receiving, sharing, or publishing information about suspected fraudulent, abusive, or illegal robocalls and other illegal calls. Additionally, the bill authorizes the consortium to publish a list of voice service providers based on information about providers’ transmission or origination of illegal robocalls or refusal to participate in traceback efforts. (Currently, only the FCC may publish this list.)

The bill also establishes an interagency task force on combating robocalls that originate outside the United States.

Safe Schools Improvement Act

This bill requires states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit bullying and harassment of elementary and secondary school students. In particular, these policies must prohibit bullying and harassment based on race, color, national origin, disability, religion, or sex. Sex includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics (including intersex traits).

Further, LEAs must provide (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level.

The Department of Education must conduct and report on an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics must collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.

Essential Caregivers Act of 2026

This bill requires certain nursing and long-term care facilities to ensure residents have access to their designated essential caregivers during periods of restricted visitation.

Specifically, the bill requires Medicare skilled nursing facilities, long-term care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, as well as Medicaid nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, to allow residents to designate two essential caregivers and to allow these caregivers in-person access to residents even when visitation is otherwise restricted.

Facilities may limit access of essential caregivers only in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as specified. Essential caregivers must agree to follow all safety protocols established by the facility, which may be no more restrictive than the protocols for staff.