Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan

Maddy summaryThis bill authorizes a Congressional Gold Medal to honor the service of Army and Navy nurses who served during World War II. It directly recognizes approximately 73,000 nurses (including those who died in action or captivity) who provided critical medical care under combat conditions across 6 continents. The medal, designed by the Treasury Secretary, will be displayed at institutions like the Smithsonian, the Women in Military Service Memorial, and military museums. The bill is purely commemorative, with no new benefits or policy changes, focusing solely on formal recognition of their wartime contributions.

Maddy summaryThe Educating Future Nurses Act establishes a Medicare-funded program to reimburse eligible hospitals for costs of training advanced practice registered nurses (like nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists) through clinical education partnerships. Hospitals must partner with accredited nursing schools and community care settings (such as clinics or rural health centers) to create regional "Graduate Nurse Education Hubs," with payments tied to enrollment increases over 2021-2022 baseline. Payments are calculated per student and require annual reporting on nurse placements, especially in underserved areas, to ensure alignment with workforce needs. The program supplements, rather than replaces, existing federal nursing education funding.

Maddy summaryS 1544, the Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics Act of 2023, requires Medicare to make separate payments for certain high-cost diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals starting January 1, 2024. It applies to drugs meeting a $500 per day cost threshold (rising annually with inflation), defined as FDA-approved nuclear imaging drugs launched after 2008. Payments will use existing Medicare pricing mechanisms - either average sales price or wholesale acquisition cost - to ensure separate coverage without bundling. This directly affects Medicare beneficiaries receiving these specific nuclear diagnostics and the hospitals/providers billing Medicare for them. The bill does not change patient costs or coverage eligibility but alters Medicare's payment structure for these drugs.

Maddy summaryThe Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act designates over 10 million acres of federal land in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness areas to protect major ecosystems like Yellowstone, Glacier, and Salmon/Selway. It establishes biological connecting corridors that prohibit new roads, mining, and oil and gas development to allow wildlife movement and genetic diversity. The bill also designates numerous rivers as wild and scenic, creates recovery areas for damaged lands, and ensures tribal rights and water rights remain unchanged.

Maddy summaryThis bill extends full contraceptive coverage without out-of-pocket costs to military dependents and non-active duty service members under TRICARE. It amends TRICARE to eliminate cost-sharing for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, related counseling, insertion/removal services, and sterilization procedures - aligning dependent coverage with existing active duty benefits under the Affordable Care Act. The bill also requires military medical facilities to provide comprehensive pregnancy prevention information and emergency contraception access to sexual assault survivors, and mandates standardized family planning education for all service members on topics like contraceptive options and confidentiality. These changes directly affect over 700,000 female spouses/dependents and transgender military families covered by TRICARE who currently face cost barriers.

Maddy summaryS 1475, the "Stop Pills That Kill Act," targets counterfeit fentanyl and methamphetamine pills marketed to mimic legitimate medications. It updates federal law to explicitly prohibit these fake pills and requires the DEA to create a comprehensive plan within 180 days, including enforcement strategies, youth-focused prevention education, and audits of current campaigns like "One Pill Can Kill." The bill mandates annual reports to Congress detailing seizures of counterfeit pills, prosecution data, conviction statistics, and ongoing prevention efforts. It directly affects federal law enforcement agencies, public health officials, and individuals involved in manufacturing or distributing these deceptive pills. The focus is on concrete data collection and prevention measures for pill-form counterfeits, not on new criminal penalties.

Maddy summaryS 824 establishes a formal national risk management cycle to protect critical infrastructure, directly affecting the Department of Homeland Security, Sector Risk Management Agencies, and critical infrastructure owners/operators. The bill requires the Secretary to create a recurring process for identifying and assessing cyber and physical threats to infrastructure vital to national security, economic stability, and public health. It mandates annual risk reports to Congress, a national resilience strategy prioritizing high-impact risks, and yearly congressional briefings on funding needs. These provisions aim to coordinate federal and private-sector efforts to address infrastructure vulnerabilities through structured assessments and strategic planning.

Maddy summarySRES 181 is a non-binding Senate resolution supporting the designation of April 24-28, 2023, as "National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week." It recognizes school-based professionals - including counselors, psychologists, nurses, therapists, and speech-language pathologists - who support students' academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. The resolution encourages public acknowledgment of their role in fostering safe, supportive learning environments and promotes collaboration among educators and policymakers to advance student well-being.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 119 recognizes the 202nd anniversary of Greece's independence (celebrated March 25, 2023) and celebrates the shared democratic values between Greece and the United States. The resolution highlights historical ties, including U.S. support during Greece's 1821 independence struggle, Greece's role in World War II, and its current status as a U.S. NATO ally. It also commends Greece's contributions to global security and its support for Ukraine's sovereignty following Russia's invasion. This procedural resolution serves as a symbolic gesture to strengthen bilateral relations without enacting new laws.