FENCES Act

HR3151 — SHIPS for America Act of 2025

Rebuild U.S. commercial shipbuilding and a U.S.-flag strategic fleet by pairing new tax credits, grants, and operating payments with stronger cargo-preference rules and workforce and innovation programs to restore domestic capacity and sealift readiness. It centralizes maritime strategy in a White House advisor and a Maritime Security Board and funds a broad set of industrial, port, and training programs to favor U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed vessels.

HR1262 — Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

Speeds and strengthens pediatric cancer drug development. It expands which cancer products companies must study in children, reshapes organ transplant network governance and fees, and adds new FDA international and transparency steps. - Children with cancer and researchers: Requires pediatric studies that produce clinically meaningful data on dosing, safety, and early effectiveness and widens the kinds of drug combinations studied. It also sets aside $25 million for pediatric drug studies in each of fiscal years 2026, 2027, and 2028. - Transplant patients and transplant network members: Changes Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network governance and financing by allowing quarterly registration fees, requiring those fees fund OPTN operations, improving electronic health record integration, and calling for a GAO review within two years. - FDA partners and drug makers: Creates an Abraham Accords Office to boost regulatory coordination and technical assistance abroad, and forces more transparency during generic (ANDA) reviews about whether generics are qualitatively and quantitatively the same as listed drugs. It also raises the Medicare Improvement Fund amount from $1.4 billion to $2.6 billion. Increases federal outlays by roughly $1.3 billion, driven by a $1.2 billion boost to the Medicare Improvement Fund and $75 million for pediatric studies, adding to federal spending.

HR740 — Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025

Faster, clearer access to VA community care and mental health treatment. This bill would set measurable drive‑time and wait‑time standards for community care, tighten timelines and appeals for denials, and standardize rapid screening and admission for residential mental health programs. - Veterans and households: Veterans would get written notice of eligibility within two business days and VA would have to schedule primary, mental health, and most extended care within a 30‑minute average drive and 20 days of request. Specialty care would be scheduled within a 60‑minute drive and 28 days. - Mental health patients and families: The bill would require a standardized clinical screen within 48 hours of an admission request and admission of priority cases within 48 hours of determination. Placement must weigh veteran preferences and proximity to social supports and VA must offer accredited non‑VA options and transportation help if it cannot meet standards. - Providers and VA modernization: Provider claim deadlines would extend from 180 days to 1 year. The bill would reform the Center for Innovation with a required budget line item, create a three‑year pilot in at least five sites to allow outpatient mental health and substance use care without referrals, and require an interactive online self‑service appointment and appeals tool with a plan due in 180 days.

HR21 — Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

Mandates care and penalties for infants born alive after an abortion. This bill would set standards of care, require reporting, create criminal penalties, and allow civil suits when an infant is born alive following an abortion. - Women and families: A woman on whom an abortion is performed may sue anyone who violates the law and recover objectively verifiable medical and psychological damages, punitive damages, and statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the abortion. Courts must award reasonable attorney's fees to prevailing plaintiffs and may award fees to defendants if a suit is frivolous. - Health care practitioners and facility employees: Any practitioner present at a birth resulting from an abortion must exercise the same professional skill, care, and diligence as for any other live-born infant of the same gestational age. Practitioners or employees who know of a failure to comply must immediately report the violation to appropriate State or Federal law enforcement. - Criminal and statutory consequences: Violators face fines, up to 5 years in prison, or both, and anyone who intentionally kills a born-alive infant is punished under the murder statute. The bill also updates chapter headings and adds statutory definitions for "abortion" and "attempt."

HR22 — SAVE Act

Requires documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in Federal elections. The bill would add verification, recordkeeping, and new penalties while creating a sworn-affidavit and official‑verification path for people who cannot present documents. - Voters without documents: People who lack documentary proof would rely on a standardized sworn affidavit or an official verification process the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must develop. Provisional ballots could still be cast and counted if citizenship is later verified. - State agencies and DMVs: Motor vehicle agencies and other voter registration points would be required to collect and record citizenship documents and to notify applicants in advance. The Federal mail registration form would be revised and the EAC must issue guidance within 10 days of enactment. - Removal and enforcement: States could use Department of Homeland Security Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (DHS SAVE), the Social Security Administration (SSA) verification service, and state ID data to identify and remove noncitizens. The bill expands private suits and increases criminal penalties for knowingly registering or assisting noncitizens.

HR925 — Dismantle DEI Act of 2025

Bans many federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices across the federal government. The bill would define a narrow set of "prohibited DEI practices," require agencies to end DEI offices and related programs, and block similar DEI requirements for contractors, grantees, accrediting bodies, and parts of the military and financial regulators.