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Archive for the Congress Category (227 posts)

Coronavirus Resource Guide

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We are once again updating this guide today, April 3, 2020. We are providing the Public Law number for H.R.748 and links to recent presidential actions. We have added a link which lists all the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports on this topic as well as links to additional Federal agency websites including IRS and Small Business Administration. We have included resources for information about quarantine orders in the states as well as state unemployment resources. We have added additional Law Library Global Legal Monitor (GLM) articles and organized these by region. These updates have (new) at the end of the entry so the added content is easy to identify.

This is intended as a guide to laws, regulations and executive actions in the United States, at both the federal and the state level, and in various countries with respect to the new coronavirus and its spread. We are also including links to Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports that provide information to Congress about the novel coronavirus. In addition, we provide links to relevant federal agency websites. We intend to update this guide on at least a weekly basis for the immediate future.

United States Legislation

Public Law 116-136, (CARES) Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (passed by Congress) (public law number is new)

Public Law 116-127, Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Public Law 116-123, Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 

Congress.gov

Proposed legislation relating to the novel coronavirus can be searched through the Library’s Congress.gov website. You can search for legislation through the homepage or explore other Search methods. Here is a broad starter query that finds current legislation about COVID-19  You can then set up Alerts so you are notified any time there is an action on a bill.

You can also use Congress.gov to explore the Most-Viewed bills, check the Congressional Record or look up your members.

Presidential Actions

  • Presidential Memorandum, 85 F.R. 18411, Providing Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19, March 30, 2020 (new)
  • Presidential Memorandum, 85 F.R. 18409, Providing Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19, March 28, 2020 (new)
  • Executive Order 13912, 85 F.R.18407, National Emergency Authority to Order the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty (new)
  • Executive Order 13911, 85 F.R. 18403, Delegating Additional Authority Under the Defense Production Act with Respect to Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19 (new)
  • Executive Order 13909, 85 F.R. 16227, Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19
  • Presidential Memorandum Providing Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19
  • Proclamation No. 9996, 85 F.R. 15341: Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus (applied to persons traveling to the U.S. who have been in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland within the preceding 14 days)
  • Proclamation No. 9994, 85 F.R. 15337:  Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Outbreak
  • Presidential Memorandum, 85 F.R. 15049: Making General Use Respirators Available
  • Proclamation No. 9993, 85 F.R. 15045 : Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus (applied to persons traveling to the U.S. who have been in the Schengen Area within the preceding 14 days)
  • Proclamation No. 9992, 85 F.R. 12855: Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus (applied to persons traveling to the U.S. who have been in the Islamic Republic of Iran within the preceding 14 days)
  • Proclamation No. 9984, 85 F.R. 6709: Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus (applied to persons traveling to the U.S. who have been the People’s Republic of China in the preceding 14 days, excluding Macau and Hong Kong)

U.S. Government Agencies

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coronavirus.gov

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Coronavirus Tax Relief 

IRS Economic Impact Payments: What You Need to Know

U.S. Department of Treasury Deferral of 2019 Tax Payments

Benefits.gov Help Center and Coronavirus Resources

Department of Labor (DOL) Coronavirus Resources

Medicare Information on Coverage for COVID-19 tests and Treatments

Small Business Administration Coronavirus Relief Options

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Information on Coronavirus Scams and How to Report Scams (new)

State Government Information

You can use the Law Library’s Guide to Law Online for U.S. States and Territories to locate information about state actions taken in response to the novel coronavirus. Each state or territory has its own page in the Guide: see for example New Mexico. Each state page is organized in the same way with links divided into the various categories such as Constitution or Executive. Links to a state governor’s office and state administrative regulations can be found under the Executive header on each page while existing laws and pending state legislation can be found under the Legislative header

CareerOneStop (sponsored by DOL) – provides information on state unemployment benefits (new)

Lawfare Quarantine and Isolation Authorities in States Affected by COVID-19 (new)

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has created a page with information about State Tax Filing Guidance during the novel coronavirus Pandemic.

National Conference on State Legislatures State Action on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

CRS reports can be accessed and searched from a link on the Congress.gov homepage. We are listing some of the more recent reports below but here is a link to the full list of reports (new link) prepared by CRS and organized by topic.

Law Library Posts

Law Library Global Legal Monitor Articles (new – organized by region)

Africa/Middle East

Asia

Europe

United States

International 

Users can search for GLM articles using Topics including “Epidemics” or “Infectious or parasitic diseases.” Users can also set up RSS feeds by Topic or Country and receive an alert when a new article is published.

Law Library of Congress Legal Reports

As always, if you have any questions, please contact us through Ask a Librarian.

As promised, we are updating this guide today, March 27, 2020, with links to additional legislation (H.R.748), presidential actions, CRS reports, U.S. and state government resources and Law Library Global Legal Monitor Articles.  The updates have (new) at end of the entry so the added content is easy to identify.

Historical Law Library Reports to be Published Online

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The Law Library of Congress has digitized and published its first batch of historical legal reports as part of a multi-year effort to archive and share thousands of these reports with researchers and other members of the public. These first 250 digitized reports are now available through the Publications of the Law Library of Congress […]

Congress.gov New, Tip and Top March 2020

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Last month we brought you information about new alerts for updated weekly committee schedules and the implementation of Read Speaker for bill text. For our first release this month, we have added the ability to sort bill cosponsors by name or date from the All Info view for a bill.   Enhancements Enhancement – Members […]

Congress.gov New, Tip and Top February 2020

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Last month Andrew told us about deep linking in Congress.gov while Robert informed us about sponsorship information in saved searches for legislation. This month we are implementing the ReadSpeaker function for use on the Congress.gov bill text tab. Since July 2015, Congress.gov has offered the ReadSpeaker function for bill summaries but now we are offering […]

Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for December 2019

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Back in November, Andrew shared that withdrawn cosponsors are now displayed on Senate Amendments in Congress.gov. The November release also brought improvements to the accessibility of search results for patrons using screen readers.  With our December release, the addition of next and previous arrows improves navigation between committee hearing detail pages. In addition, the compact view […]

Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for November 2019

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Last month Margaret shared the update to our Committee Profile pages that added new links to our Committee Schedule.  This was one in a series of improvements surrounding the Committee Schedule that first launched in January.  We added the next three scheduled hearings to the homepage, links from the hearing pages to the legislation or […]

Congress.gov New, Tip and Top for October 2019

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Robert brought us the last Congress.gov update in late September.  That update included new enhancements to the Congressional Committee Schedule page.  Legislation pages now link an associated committee’s meeting pages from the overview box. In response to user requests, the weekly Committee Schedule now has a compact/expanded view option. Chamber of Origin, House, Senate, and Joint […]