Honoring the life, achievements, legacy, and public service of former President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.

HR2550 — Protect America's Workforce Act

Preserves federal employees' collective bargaining agreements. This Act nullifies the Executive Order titled "Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs." - Federal employees and unions: Collective bargaining agreements that were in effect on March 26, 2025 remain valid and continue to apply through each contract's stated term. - Federal agencies and federal funds: Agencies may not obligate or spend federal funds to carry out that Executive Order, and the Executive Order has no force or effect.

HR1589 — American Dream and Promise Act of 2025

New pathways to permanent residence. This bill would create a ten‑year conditional permanent resident status for certain people who entered as children and would add an adjustment pathway for specified Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure holders. - Young long‑term residents and DACA‑eligible people could get a ten‑year conditional status if they meet rules like continuous presence since Jan 1, 2021 and education or credential benchmarks. They could convert to full permanent residence after meeting removal‑of‑condition rules and have limits on removal while applying. - Nationals with qualifying TPS or DED status who meet continuous‑presence rules could apply within a three‑year window and face a capped application fee of $1,140. - The bill creates a competitive grant program to help applicants, allows fee exemptions for youth, low‑income people, foster care alumni, and those with serious disabilities, and adds a $25 supplemental surcharge to fund appointed counsel.

HR14 — John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025

This bill would restore robust federal oversight of voting rights by rewriting Section 2 and creating a broad practice-based preclearance system. It sets new tests for vote-dilution and vote-denial claims, adds retrogression rules for actions on or after January 1, 2021, and requires extensive public notice, data disclosure, and observer powers. - Minority and language-minority voters: Provides clearer legal paths to challenge districting and practices that dilute or abridge votes, recognizes coalitions of minority groups, and applies retrogression rules to actions from January 1, 2021. - States and local election officials: Triggers preclearance using a 25-year lookback with numeric thresholds and creates an administrative bailout that requires demonstrating sustained compliance over a 10-year period to avoid coverage. - Enforcement, oversight, and courts: Expands who may sue to include private "aggrieved persons", centralizes observer authority in the Attorney General, and authorizes pre-suit inspection and information demands that courts may enforce or modify.

HR17 — Paycheck Fairness Act

Strengthening pay equity by expanding who is protected and limiting employers from using past pay, the Paycheck Fairness Act would tighten how pay differences are justified and increase enforcement and data collection. - Workers and prospective employees would gain a ban on employer reliance on wage history and new nonretaliation protections for wage discussions. The bill lets a candidate voluntarily share prior pay only after a job offer and only to justify a higher wage. - Employers would face new civil penalties for wage-history violations starting at $5,000 for a first offense and rising by $1,000 per subsequent offense to a $10,000 cap. Affected workers could recover damages up to $10,000 plus attorneys’ fees and injunctive relief where appropriate. - Federal enforcement and oversight would increase. The EEOC and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs would enforce the rules. The bill would create a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force and require expanded pay-data collection by EEOC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and OFCCP from federal contractors. Provisions would take effect six months after enactment.

HR18 — Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025

Expands background checks to most private firearm transfers. This bill would require unlicensed sellers to have a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer take possession of a firearm and run the federal background check before transferring it, while listing targeted exceptions. - Families: Certain loans and bona fide gifts between specified family members would be exempt if the transferor has no reason to believe the recipient is prohibited from possessing firearms. - Private sellers and dealers: Unlicensed sellers would need a licensee to take possession and process the transaction as dealer inventory so the existing background-check system applies. - Licensed-dealer paperwork: Licensees would have to give buyers a written notice and get a signed certification on a form the Attorney General prescribes. - Law enforcement and short-term use: The bill carves out exceptions for law enforcement, armed private security, military on duty, estate transfers, emergency transfers to prevent imminent harm, and temporary transfers at ranges or for hunting when the seller is present. - Administration and state authority: It would require the Attorney General to provide forms in English and Spanish and affirms it does not authorize a national firearms registry and preserves state lawmaking on the same subject.

HR51 — Washington, D.C. Admission Act

Full statehood for Washington, Douglass Commonwealth would admit the District of Columbia as a new state on equal footing, while defining a smaller federal "Capital" and setting staged transitions for courts, property, and federal programs. - Capital residents would gain full congressional representation: two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative. The bill also requires states to allow "absent Capital" residents to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections. - The U.S. House would be permanently increased to 436 members and apportionment would be adjusted beginning with the first decennial census after admission. - The bill defines the federal Capital with a required 180-day survey, preserves federal court, prosecutorial, prison, parole, National Guard, and employee benefit arrangements on a temporary basis, and phases those responsibilities to the State as it certifies the necessary laws and personnel are in place.