[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5331 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5331

  To provide that no Federal funds may be used to carry out the final 
 rule of the Department of Homeland Security entitled ``Public Charge 
          Ground of Inadmissibility'', and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2026

Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Kaine, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Warren, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
   Markey, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Booker, Mr. Coons, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. 
    Schiff) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide that no Federal funds may be used to carry out the final 
 rule of the Department of Homeland Security entitled ``Public Charge 
          Ground of Inadmissibility'', and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protect American Values Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) immigrants and their families are a core part of this 
        Nation;
            (2) their health and safety is critical to the health and 
        safety of our communities;
            (3) Federal, State, and local assistance programs promote 
        self-sufficiency by ensuring that families, including immigrant 
        and mixed-status families, maintain their health, strength, and 
        stability, and can continue contributing to this Nation's 
        social and economic life;
            (4) the rule of the Department of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility'' is a 
        dangerous policy that will impede access to essential food, 
        medical care, and housing for many families, while injecting 
        severe uncertainty and arbitrariness for immigrants adjusting 
        to lawful permanent resident status;
            (5) the rule would damage State and local economies while 
        burdening health and service providers, and the Department of 
        Homeland Security itself, in the preamble of the proposed rule, 
        acknowledges the severe consequences of this proposal including 
        that it could have, ``downstream and upstream impacts on State 
        and local economies, large and small businesses, and 
        individuals'', would ``increase the poverty of certain families 
        and children, including U.S. [C]itizen children'', and ``may 
        lead to downstream effects on public health, community 
        stability, and resilience'' including ``[w]orse health 
        outcomes, such as increased prevalence of obesity and 
        malnutrition'', ``[h]igher prevalence of communicable 
        diseases'', and ``[i]ncreased rates of uncompensated care''; 
        and
            (6) the rule would circumvent Congress and reverse over 140 
        years of law and policy, restricting immigration and chilling 
        access to services for which immigrants and their United States 
        citizen family members are eligible, in a manner not authorized 
        or contemplated by Congress.

SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON FEDERAL FUNDS.

    No Federal funds (including fees) made available for any fiscal 
year, may be used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out the 
rule of the Department of Homeland Security entitled ``Public Charge 
Ground of Inadmissibility'' (91 Fed. Reg. 45324 (July 20, 2026)) or any 
guidance or sub-regulatory policy that implements or clarifies such.
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