To Improve Republican Budget Resolution, Shaheen Offers Dozens of Amendments that Would Lower Health Care Costs, Shield Families and Businesses from Rising Prices, Keep Americans Safe and Secure

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will offer dozens of amendments to the budget resolution tonight that would make health care more affordable, lower the costs of energy bills, protect American consumers and businesses from rising prices imposed by President Trump’s tariffs and keep Americans safe by enhancing military preparedness, strengthening our air traffic controller workforce, cracking down on drugs and investing in the northern border. 

“Let’s be very clear: Tonight’s budget resolution process is all about slashing critical services and raising costs on families to free up dollars for tax cuts to the wealthiest in the country. Meanwhile, I’m offering opportunities for bipartisan collaboration to deliver commonsense solutions for Americans grappling with high costs,” said Shaheen. “Americans want, expect and deserve their elected representatives to work together to make progress on the issues they’re facing – and partisan exercises like this do nothing to make their lives better. I’m working to cut through Washington dysfunction and advocate for Granite Staters.” 

Below is an overview of the dozens of amendments Senator Shaheen is introducing for consideration tonight. 

To help lower everyday costs, Shaheen introduced amendments that would: 

• Protect Americans from a national sales tax that raises costs on clothing, toys, electronics and energy. 

• Help families struggling with high grocery bills by restoring cancelled federal food assistance programs. 

• Support American jobs and manufacturers hurt by Trump's tariffs. 

• Enhance housing affordability by preventing construction cost increases due to tariffs and delays and expanding investment in housing development. 

• Help households afford groceries, including preventing broad tariffs which would raise the price of food or cuts to food aid for families. 

• Prevent funding cuts to child care or early childhood education programs helping New Hampshire families. 

• Support affordable housing in disaster recovery by rebuilding with resilient and cost-effective methods, especially those that lower home insurance rates. 

• Lower sugar prices for American businesses and consumers harmed by the U.S. sugar program. 

To help make health care more affordable and accessible, Shaheen introduced amendments that would: 

• Prioritize Affordable Care Act tax credits that give 22 million Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance. 

• Ensure that Medicaid expansion programs aren't eliminated by drastic cuts to federal funding, including New Hampshire’s Granite Advantage covering more than 60,000 Granite Staters. 

• Ensure that patients suffering from diabetes do not face unnecessary barriers to care, including access to $35 insulin. 

• Ensure hospitals and doctors working in rural areas can keep their doors open and continue providing lifesaving care for their patients. 

• Ensure that our community health centers can continue to provide vital care to their patients. 

To help enhance public safety and keep families secure, Shaheen introduced amendments that would: 

• Make investments in the Air Traffic Controller workforce and overturning the reckless firing of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration personnel critical to aviation safety. 

• Support her Cooper Davis Act and limit illegal drug sales on social media. 

• Improve cell service and communications for emergency services along the northern border. 

• Ensure that DHS has the technology needed to monitor and defend the U.S.-Canada border against the flow of drugs and illegal migration. 

• Raise pay for U.S. Bureau of Prisons correctional officers in New Hampshire and across the country. 

• Preserve funding for programs that support survivors of sexual and domestic violence. 

• Ensure local law enforcement agencies and communities are not left with the bill for unfunded federal mandates. 

• Prioritize the deportation of undocumented individuals who pose threats to our national security or public safety. 

• Ensure that increased funding for the DOJ and DHS is focused on stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. 

• Restore retention incentives and union protections for federal correctional officers and staff, including those at FCI Berlin. 

To help lower American households’ energy costs, Shaheen introduced amendments that would: 

• Protect Americans from higher energy costs for gas, heating oil and propane due to broad tariffs. 

• Protect bipartisan investments that lower energy costs, promote electric grid reliability and improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, including addressing PFAS contamination. 

• Protect families, farmers and businesses from higher energy costs by ensuring energy saving and renewable energy projects funded by Congress continue. 

• Prevent Congress from blocking state or local governments from updating their building codes to protect life and property, reduce losses from disasters or lower energy costs for families. 

• Support energy efficient building construction and retrofits to lower energy costs and enhance electric grid reliability. 

• Support resources that help make home heating more affordable, including energy assistance from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and weatherization. 

To help bolster America’s national security and support American service members and their families, Shaheen introduced amendments that would: 

• Support military service members, veterans and families, including by protecting family members who were recently fired from federal employment solely because they were new to a job. 

• Replenish the defense industrial base ramping up to support Ukraine. 

• Replenish the defense industrial base ramping up to support the defense of Taiwan. 

• Ensure that federal employees essential to national security are not impacted by federal hiring freezes or reduction in force (RIF) initiatives. 

• Require oversight over wasteful spending. 

• Protect DoD's policy that ensures service women receive the same coverage for contraception as civilian women. 

• Ensure that U.S. farmers do not suffer economic harm due to the freeze on U.S. assistance. 

• Call on the Administration to use the REPO Act authorities to seize Russian assets and support Ukraine. 

Additional amendments introduced by Shaheen would: 

• Prevent a reduction in postal service for rural America, including by preventing closure of processing centers. 

• Ensure that Americans are protected against fraud, price gouging and higher rental and housing prices caused by illegal price information sharing. 

• Support funding to assist Afghan SIVs and refugee resettlement. 

• Cut more than $40 billion in wasteful agriculture spending going to large corporate farm operations while preserving benefits to small family farms. 

• Ensure strong funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission. 

• Prevent adding $5 trillion of tax cuts to the national debt and raising interest rates when the Federal Government is already paying $1 trillion per year in interest. 

• Support American farmers and address world hunger. 

• Address corruption and conflicts of interest from Special Government Employees like Elon Musk by prohibiting them from receiving federal contracts while they’re working for the government. 

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