During this legislative session, members of the U.S. Congress have passed bills they hope will better benefit American citizens.
The first of these bills that Congress passed is the H.R. 41 Hurricane Sandy relief bill. This bill was passed to increase funding to the National Flood Insurance Program from its original $20.7 billion to $30.4 billion.
However, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has claimed that the damage done by Hurricane Sandy to his state would cost nearly $42 billion alone.
In response to Gov. Cuomo, the bill was followed by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. This bill provides $17 billion in emergency funding in addition to the funding passed by the H.R. 41. This additional funding bill brings the total funding for emergency relief to over $60 billion to be distributed among the appropriate agencies.
Congress also passed H.R. 6655, or the Protect Our Kids Act of 2012. This act will establish a Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. Through this bill, this commission will crack down on child protective services to reduce child deaths that result from child abuse and neglect.
Another act Congress passed was the Space Exploration Sustainability Act. This will be an amendment to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 and will now allow NASA to proceed with their use of the International Space Station, develop new technologies, and to reopen use to the space launch system. Through this bill, NASA will receive funding they have been lacking in the past few years to continue their important and innovative research.
Finally, Congress passed the Clothe a Homeless Hero Act. This act will require the Transportation Security Administration to take unclaimed clothing recovered in airports to the local authorities for donation to charity. These donations would also go to local veterans organizations or other organizations responsible for the distribution to the homeless, needy veterans and their families.
