Breaking the Gridlock Act

Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10]

Breaking the Gridlock Act This bill addresses a wide variety of issues, ranging from raising grandchildren to earthquake hazards reduction, to underrepresented groups in cancer trials to telehealth, and fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria. Specifically, the bill establishes a Federal Task Force to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. With respect to earthquake hazards reduction, the bill <ul> <li>reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program;</li> <li>reduces the frequency of reporting by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction;</li> <li>modifies the responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation; and </li> <li>directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review federal earthquake hazard risk reduction efforts.</li> </ul> The bill also (1) reauthorizes the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and (2) restores certain amounts withheld for tax purposes from severance payments to veterans with combat-related injuries. The GAO must review actions federal agencies have taken to address barriers to participation in federally funded cancer clinical trials by populations that have been traditionally underrepresented in such trials. The Department of State and the Department of Defense must jointly develop and submit to Congress a five-year strategy to help enable the government of Nigeria, members of the Multinational Joint Task Force to Combat Boko Haram authorized by the African Union, and relevant partners to counter the regional threat of Boko Haram. The bill makes supplemental appropriations for the Telehealth Resource Center of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth.