President Biden signed 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve, as the year and his time in officer draw to a close, CBS News reported. It was written by Kathryn Watson.
The bills Mr. Biden signed included socialite and activist Paris Hilton’s bill to protect teenagers living in residential treatment facilities, a bill setting anti-hazing standards on college campuses, and a bill preventing member of Congress from collection pensions if convicted of certain crimes.
Hilton is the force behind the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which passed the House and Senate last week. The legislation creates a federal work group on youth residential programs to oversee health, safety, care, treatment and placement in rehab and other facilities. The new law is personal for Hilton, who has testified before Congress that she faced abuse in such facilities as a teen.
Another measure the president signed, S. 933, prohibits members of Congress convicted of crimes related to public corruption from receiving their retirement payments. Previous law allowed members to continue to receive checks only after the exhaustion of all appeals. The new bipartisan law comes after Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was found guilty this year of using his political influence to benefit businessmen and foreign governments in return for bribes.
The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires higher education institutions to disclose hazing incidents reported to campus or local police authorities in their annual security reports. The new law also requires schools to teach students about the dangers of hazing, among other things.
Yet another new law, S. 4610, makes the bald eagle the official bird of the U.S. The federal government had never designated an official bird.
On Monday, the president granted clemency to 37 of the 40 federal inmates facing death sentences, commuting their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The move prompted both consternation and praise.
Mr. Biden also vetoed a bill on Monday that would have created 66 new federal judgeships, saying the House had rushed it through without resolving important issues about how it would be implemented.
December 23, 2024: The Whit House posed: “FACT SHEET: President Biden Commutes the Sentences of 37 Individuals on Death Row”
Today, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row. Those individuals will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole.
President Biden has dedicated his career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system. He believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder — which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases.
When President Biden came into office, his Administration imposed a moratorium on federal executions, and his actions today will prevent the next Administration from carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.
This historic clemency action builds on the President’s record of criminal justice reform. The President has issued more commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms.
Earlier this month, the President announced clemency for approximately 1,500 Americans – the most ever in a single day – who have shown successful rehabilitation and a commitment to making communities safer. This included sentence commutations for nearly 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, as well as 39 pardons for individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes.
President Biden is also the first President ever to issue categorical pardons to individuals convicted of simple use and possession of marijuana, and to former LGBTQI+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.
The President’s criminal justice record has transformed individual lives and positively impacted communities, especially historically marginalized communities. In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to review additional pardons and communities. In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances to review additional pardons and commutations…
The Hill reported: “Biden signs 50 bills, including 1 backed by Paris Hilton, on Christmas Eve”
President Biden spent Christmas Eve signing new bills into law approving everything from the county’s official bird to protections for children in youth care facilities.
Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act
Celebrity singer and actress Paris Hilton has spent months pushing for a federal law that will hold treatment centers and care facilities serving youth accountable. She made frequent appearances on Capitol Hill to encourage lawmakers to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in the House and Senate.
December proved to be a fruitful month as the Senate unanimously approved the measure and the House voted 367 to 33, sending the bill to Biden’s desk. He signed the act into law on Tuesday, securing a political victory for Hilton, who expressed potential interest in serving as an elected official.
Stop Campus Hazing Act
Biden also passed a law that creates disclosure regulations for federally funded higher learning institutions, requiring them to include reports of hazing in their annual security report. The bill was sponsored by Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) in the House in addition to Sens. Amy Klobachar (D-Minn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
Hazing is frequently discovered to be part of college pledging processes for on-campus fraternities and sororities. More than half of college students are involved in some form of campus hazing, according to North Carolina State University.
Post office designations
The president signed two bills renaming local postal offices to honor community leaders in the state of Texas and California.
The site at 1106 Main St. in Bastrop, Texas, is now the Sargent Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office, in honor of a CIA ineligence officer and Army soldier who served the country for more than five decades.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) sponsored the legislation.
San Francisco will rename a post office in honor of the late Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), thanks to a bill sponsored by Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
Federal building renamings
Biden signed several bills to rename federal buildings. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) community clinic in Lynchburg, Va., will now be known as the Private First Class Desmond T. Doss VA Clinic.
The medical center of the VA in Tulsa, Okla., was renamed after the late Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) sponsored the bill.
The late Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) also earned a special honor at the Fort McHenry National Historic Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Md., as the Paul S Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center will become his namesake.
The effort was sponsored by the senator’s son, Rep John Sarbanes (D-Md.), along with the state’s congressional delegation.
U.S. Official Bird
While the bald eagle has long been the official mascot of the U.S., Biden singed the first legislation to make that official on Christmas Eve.
The Biden administration also pumped out last-minute surprises, including pardons for federal death row inmates, throughout the course of his last month in office. He will transfer the commander in chief role to President-elect Trump in January.