On Christmas Eve, President Joe Biden signed into law 50 bills that ranged from environmental conservation efforts and child abuse prevention measures to seemingly mundane actions meant to curb what amounts to busy work at federal agencies.
Here are five of the most interesting new laws:
Paris Hilton-backed bill against child abuse
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act carves out federal funding to study child abuse at youth residential programs and hold these groups accountable as needed.
The bill was championed by entertainment mogul Paris Hilton, who has been outspoken about experiencing abuse as a teenager at youth treatment facilities.
Bald eagle’s national bird status made official
The bald eagle has been a symbol of American perseverance and cunning for hundreds of years. It was adapted as the Coat of Arms for the United States Great Seal in 1782. And yet, it’s only just become the country’s official national bird.
In signing Senate Bill 4610, Biden clears the way for Chapter 3 of the United States Code to be amended to say: “The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the national bird.”
Protecting Native American children
The Native American Child Protection Act seeks to address the disproportionately high levels of abuse among Indigenous children through several measures, including the creation of the National Indian Child Resource and Family Services Center.
The center will be required to provide advice and training to urban tribal organizations and investigate incidents of family violence and child abuse involving Indigenous children, according to the bill.
Cracking down on campus hazing
The Stop Campus Hazing Act is the first federal anti-hazing law in the country. The legislation requires colleges to disclose hazing incidents reported to “campus security authorities or local police agencies in its annual security report.”
Julie and Gary DeVercelly Sr. — whose 18-year-old son, Gary DeVercelly Jr, died in a fraternity hazing incident at Rider University in New Jersey in 2007 — applauded the legislation’s enactment.
“We’ve been pushing hard for this for a very long time,” they said in a joint statement. “No parent should have to bury their child, especially not for something preventable like a hazing death.”
Menendez-fueled anti-corruption push
A jury finding then-Sen. Bob Menendez guilty of bribery and other charges in July garnered fresh interest in an existing bill to end taxpayer-funded pensions for members of Congress convicted of a crime related to public corruption.
Before Biden approved the bill — called the No Congressionally Obligated Recurring Revenue Used as Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now Act, or the No CORRUPTION Act — federal law allowed such members of Congress to collect their pensions up until the exhaustion of all appeals of their conviction.
