Tom Cotton

This bill exempts certain small, privately held securities brokers and dealers from some of the stringent audit requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Specifically, it allows non-carrying brokers and dealers that are privately held and in "good standing" to satisfy their annual audit obligations through audits conducted under standard accounting practices instead of the more rigorous Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requirements. To qualify for this exemption, firms must meet strict criteria including having no more than 150 registered representatives, maintaining compliance with capital requirements, not holding customer funds or securities, and having no history of serious regulatory violations or criminal convictions during the past 10 years. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board must update their regulations within 180 days of the bill's enactment to implement these changes, which take effect 180 days after the law is signed. This targeted relief is intended to reduce regulatory burden on smaller, lower-risk securities firms while maintaining audit quality and investor protection standards.

# Supply Relief and Domestic Production Cost Reduction Act (S. 5458) This bill provides temporary tax and royalty relief to domestic oil and natural gas producers when the Secretary of Energy certifies that the country faces an energy supply shortage or elevated fuel costs. The bill triggers relief when conditions such as gasoline prices exceeding the five-year average by more than 15 percent, low crude oil or natural gas inventories, or insufficient production capacity are identified. During these certification periods, which last up to 180 days and can be extended, onshore federal oil and gas leases would pay reduced royalty rates (capped at 8 percent instead of standard rates), rental payments would be cut in half, and marginal wells would pay zero royalties for 24 months. The legislation also speeds up permitting decisions to 30 days, with automatic approval if the government misses the deadline, and allows lease term extensions for producers experiencing delays. Oil and gas companies receiving relief must certify that the savings will support increased production or reduced energy costs to consumers. The bill requires the Department of Energy to report annually to Congress on whether the relief actually increased domestic supply and lowered fuel costs, and the Government Accountability Office must evaluate the program's effectiveness within two years.

This bill establishes the Arkansas Delta National Heritage Area as an official component of the National Heritage Area System, covering 16 counties in eastern Arkansas including Clay, Greene, Craighead, Poinsett, Mississippi, Cross, Crittenden, St. Francis, Lee, Phillips, Monroe, Arkansas, Lincoln, Jefferson, Desha, Drew, and Chicot Counties. Arkansas State University Heritage Sites will serve as the local coordinating entity responsible for managing the heritage area and developing its policies. The local coordinating entity must submit a management plan to the Secretary of the Interior for approval within three years of the bill's enactment. Federal assistance for the heritage area is authorized for 15 years from the date the bill becomes law, after which the government's funding authority expires. The bill aims to preserve and promote the cultural, historical, and natural heritage of the Arkansas Delta region.

The Fiscal Sponsorship Transparency Act of 2026 requires certain tax-exempt charitable organizations to report detailed information about their fiscal sponsorship arrangements, which are agreements where organizations receive and manage funds on behalf of other parties. Organizations must disclose the names of non-exempt parties involved, the amounts transferred, descriptions of activities funded, the responsible officer, and dates the arrangements began and ended. The bill also creates new penalties for "improper conduit arrangements" where organizations solicit contributions for specific non-exempt individuals or entities without maintaining genuine control over how the funds are used, imposing a 20 percent tax on organizations and 5 percent on responsible managers, with additional 100 percent and 50 percent penalties respectively if the violations are not corrected. The law specifically excludes private foundations and donor-advised funds from the reporting requirements and applies to tax years beginning after December 31, 2027. The Treasury Secretary is directed to issue regulations clarifying which arrangements must be reported and what constitutes proper discretion and control over funds.

The Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act amends federal law to expand the circumstances under which employers can pay workers with disabilities below the minimum wage. Currently, federal law allows this practice only for workers under age 24 who have not received proper counseling about job alternatives. This bill lowers the age limit to 18 and changes the requirement so that employers can pay subminimum wages if the individual actively chooses to accept such employment, rather than making it contingent on lack of available counseling. The bill also creates an exception allowing employers to pay subminimum wages if they document attempts to contact state vocational rehabilitation agencies for counseling but those agencies fail to respond. The changes take effect upon the bill's enactment and apply to all future employment arrangements covered by the law.

This bill requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to review medical devices manufactured in or controlled by China for potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Within 180 days of the law's enactment, manufacturers must provide detailed information about their devices' software components, where patient data is stored, and security procedures. Within 18 months, the FDA must decide whether any reviewed devices pose cybersecurity risks, and if so, must order manufacturers to stop distributing them and notify healthcare providers and patients. Manufacturers that fail to provide the requested information within 180 days will also face mandatory recall orders, though the FDA can exempt devices from recall if removing them would create dangerous shortages. The bill requires the FDA to submit a comprehensive report to Congress within two years analyzing the cybersecurity readiness of the U.S. medical device industry and the market share of Chinese-made devices.

# Summary of S. 4795 — FREEDOM Act The FREEDOM Act streamlines the federal permitting process for energy and mining projects by establishing strict timelines and judicial remedies for project delays. Project sponsors must submit a notice of initiation to relevant agencies, which then have 90 days to approve routine authorizations and one year to approve complex authorizations (such as those requiring environmental impact statements). If agencies miss these deadlines, project sponsors can sue, and courts can appoint private contractors at government expense to complete necessary environmental reviews and documentation. The bill also protects "fully permitted projects"—those with most required approvals—from being halted or having permits revoked unless there is clear, immediate harm or the authorization violates federal law. It funds these efforts through a $50 million Permitting Performance Fund. Additionally, the legislation clarifies mining regulations by allowing operators to claim multiple mill sites for waste disposal, establishes a Geothermal Ombudsman position to streamline geothermal leasing approvals, and modifies geothermal royalty rates, setting them at 1 to 2.5 percent of electricity sales for the first ten years of operation and 2 to 5 percent thereafter. The bill applies to new permit applications submitted 90 days after enactment and to pending projects within 120 days.

This bill extends surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by delaying a scheduled expiration date. Specifically, it pushes back the June 12, 2026 repeal date for Title VII of the FISA law to June 19, 2026, granting an extra week before certain surveillance powers would otherwise expire. The bill was introduced in the Senate on June 11, 2026, and would take effect immediately upon enactment. Title VII allows the federal government to conduct surveillance on foreign targets without individual court warrants, and this extension keeps those authorities in place while Congress presumably works on longer-term FISA legislation. The bill does not include new funding and represents a brief procedural extension rather than a major policy change.

This bill extends surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by pushing back an expiration deadline. Specifically, it delays the repeal of Title VII of FISA by three weeks, moving the expiration date from June 12, 2026, to July 2, 2026. Title VII authorizes the government to conduct surveillance on foreign intelligence targets without individual court warrants in certain circumstances. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage, giving Congress additional time to debate the future of these surveillance powers before the current legal authority expires. The legislation was introduced by Senator Tom Cotton and referred to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Biosecurity Smuggling Deterrence Act of 2026 imposes mandatory minimum prison sentences for crimes related to illegally bringing biological agents into the United States. Specifically, anyone convicted of conspiring to smuggle biological agents or actually smuggling them faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison, while those who make false statements to federal authorities in connection with such smuggling face a mandatory minimum of 5 years. The bill applies to dangerous biological materials as defined under federal law and affects anyone involved in these smuggling operations, from planners to those providing false information to government agents. The law takes effect immediately upon enactment and applies to all offenses committed after the bill becomes law. This legislation aims to deter attempts to illegally import dangerous biological materials that could pose public health or security threats.

This bill, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, sets funding levels and policy direction for U.S. intelligence agencies including the CIA, NSA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, though most specific dollar figures remain in a classified annex; it does authorize $568 million for the Intelligence Community Management Account and $514 million for the CIA's retirement and disability fund. The legislation restructures leadership positions within the intelligence community, eliminating several deputy director roles and advisory councils while creating new offices, including a counterintelligence office at the Treasury Department and a task force focused on monitoring potential Chinese military action against Taiwan. It imposes new restrictions on intelligence sharing and technology use, banning Chinese-made ground robots and certain AI applications from intelligence systems, limiting cooperation with foreign-funded think tanks, and requiring safeguards against AI-generated harmful content. The bill also mandates continued intelligence support for Ukraine and enhanced intelligence sharing with Israel and Indo-Pacific allies, while strengthening whistleblower protections, oversight of AI use in military targeting decisions, and penalties for espionage and trade secret theft. Various provisions affect government employees, contractors, and foreign entities interacting with the intelligence community, with most changes taking effect either immediately upon enactment or within 60 to 180 days, and some specific reforms phased in through 2028.

The No Safe Haven for Terrorist Families Act would make close relatives of foreign terrorists, senior officials of state sponsors of terrorism, and sanctioned individuals ineligible to enter the United States or obtain visas, and would make those already in the country deportable. The bill defines covered family members broadly to include spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews of designated terrorists, terrorist organization leaders, high-ranking officials of hostile countries like Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and Cuba, and individuals sanctioned for human rights abuses or corruption. Visas would be mandatory revoked within 30 days of determining someone falls under these categories, and the Department of Homeland Security would be required to prioritize their removal with no eligibility for discretionary relief or other legal protections from deportation. The legislation applies retroactively to family relationships formed at any time and to all pending visa applications, and it requires the State Department and DHS to implement enhanced screening procedures within 180 days and submit annual reports on enforcement efforts. No specific funding amount is authorized, though the bill authorizes "such sums as may be necessary" for implementation.

The Visual Protection of Strategic Assets Act strengthens federal laws against espionage and photography of sensitive military installations and equipment. The bill creates new criminal penalties for photographing, videotaping, or electronically tracking specific military assets like the B-2 Spirit aircraft, RC-135 reconnaissance planes, nuclear command platforms, and designated tier-1 military installations without Department of Defense approval. Citizens or nationals from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran who violate these rules face mandatory prison sentences of 5 to 10 years, while other violators can face up to 7 years in prison for targeting high-value assets or tier-1 installations. The bill also requires the Secretary of Defense to maintain and publicly update lists of protected assets and installations, install warning signs at these locations, and revoke visas of foreign nationals from designated countries who are convicted under the new rules. There is no specific funding amount allocated in the legislation, as the law primarily establishes criminal penalties and administrative requirements for existing federal agencies.

This act extends the authorities of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until June 12, 2026.Title VII of FISA generally addresses electronic surveillance and other methods of acquiring foreign intelligence information that are directed at targets outside the United States. Title VII includes surveillance under Section 702, which concerns acquiring communications of non-U.S. persons believed to be outside the United States to obtain foreign intelligence information. Information about U.S. persons may incidentally be acquired by this type of surveillance and subsequently queried (searched) under certain circumstances.For additional information seeCRS In Focus, IF11451 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); andCRS Report, R48592 FISA Section 702 and the 2024 Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act.

This bill would authorize private owners and operators of critical infrastructure facilities to use drone-detection and countermeasure technologies to protect their sites from unmanned aircraft threats. Currently, only federal and state law enforcement have clear legal authority to use such systems, leaving private companies that own power plants, electrical substations, and other vital infrastructure without statutory protection. The legislation requires personnel at these facilities to complete federally-approved training and certification before using counter-drone technology, and mandates coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent interference with commercial air traffic. The bill creates a grant program funded at $250 million over fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to help critical infrastructure owners purchase and install approved systems, and it provides liability protection for authorized personnel using these technologies in good faith. The authority granted by this legislation would expire on September 30, 2031, unless Congress extends it.

S. 4344 would extend the federal government’s authority to conduct surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for three more years. Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect foreign intelligence information from non-U.S. persons located overseas, and the extension would keep that authority in place until April 20, 2029. The bill mainly affects intelligence and law enforcement agencies that use this tool for national security investigations, but it also has privacy implications for people whose communications may be incidentally collected. It does not provide new funding.

This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration to review pharmaceutical products from Chinese entities to determine if they are affiliated with the Chinese government, the Communist Party, or the People's Liberation Army. Drug applications submitted after the bill's enactment by such affiliated entities would be automatically denied approval, while applications submitted between January 2016 and enactment would be reviewed retroactively. Any drugs already approved by these affiliated entities would be refused entry at U.S. borders and destroyed, though the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection could grant a waiver if the denial would cause a drug shortage. Affected companies would have 180 days to sell their approved applications to non-affiliated entities or demonstrate they are no longer government-affiliated. The bill authorizes $5 million in spending to implement these regulatory reviews and enforcement measures.

The JOAN Act streamlines federal permitting for natural gas infrastructure projects by designating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the sole lead agency for environmental reviews, with other federal and state agencies designated as "participating agencies" required to complete their approvals within 90 days of FERC's review completion. The bill requires concurrent agency reviews, early identification of potential issues, acceptance of remote survey data, and allows project applicants to hire third-party contractors to assist in the review process. FERC must publicly track and report all permitting actions, timelines, agency contacts, and reasons for delays on its website to increase transparency and accountability. The legislation also establishes a fast-track litigation process that consolidates all legal challenges into a single lawsuit filed within 60 days of approval with a 180-day deadline for court decisions, while severely limiting judicial remedies such as injunctions and the remand remedy. The bill affects natural gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas projects and aims to accelerate the permitting and approval process for natural gas infrastructure development.

This bill, introduced in April 2026, strengthens enforcement against illegal vaping products by creating escalating civil penalties for importing unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery systems into the United States. The law targets importers who violate federal regulations through fraud, gross negligence, or negligence, imposing penalties ranging from $500 per unit for negligent violations up to $5,000 per unit for fraudulent ones. The penalties increase significantly for repeat offenders within three years, shipments using transshipment schemes to hide their origin, or combinations of these factors, with a maximum penalty capped at 1,000 percent of the estimated retail value of the shipment. The bill affects importers, distributors, and anyone attempting to bring unauthorized vaping products into U.S. commerce, and takes effect immediately upon enactment with no specific budget allocation mentioned. Enforcement will be handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection using existing procedures for assessing and collecting penalties.