Biden signs 50 bills on Christmas Eve

President Biden signed 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve as the year and his term came to a close.

Bills signed by Mr. Biden include celebrities and activists Paris Hilton’s bill to protect teenagers living in residential treatment facilities, a bill that sets anti-hazing standards on college campuses, and a bill that prevents members of Congress from receiving pensions if they are convicted of certain crimes.

Hilton is the driving force behind the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which passed the House and Senate last week. The legislation establishes a federal youth residential programs task force to oversee the health, safety, care, treatment, and placement of minors in rehabilitation and other facilities. The new law is personal for Hilton, who testified before Congress that she was abused in such facilities as a teenager.

Another measure the president signed, S. 932, bars members of Congress convicted of crimes related to public corruption from receiving their pension benefits. Previous law allowed members to continue receiving checks after all legal remedies had been exhausted. The new bipartisan legislation comes after the chairmanship of Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey found guilty This year he used his political influence to benefit businessmen and foreign governments, receiving bribes in return.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to disclose hazing incidents reported to campus or local law enforcement in their annual safety reports. The new law also requires schools to educate their students about, among other things, the dangers of hazing.

Another new law, S. 4610, makes the bald eagle a official bird of the USA The federal government had never named an official bird.

On Monday the President Grace granted Thirty-seven of the 40 federal inmates facing the death penalty commuted their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The move sparked both consternation and praise. Mr Biden too vetoed a bill On Monday, this would have created 66 new federal judgeships and said the House of Representatives rushed it through without clarifying key questions about implementation.