Senator Collins Plays Key Role in ‘Notable’ Legislation Signed into Law in 2021
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins was the principal sponsor, prime co-author, lead Republican, or co-sponsor of the seven bills named by the Washington Examiner as significant bipartisan laws enacted this year.
Bipartisan laws cited by the Washington Examiner included:
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
“The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will make long-overdue investments in our roads, highways, bridges, water treatment plants, railways, electric grid, and broadband. Most significant for rural states like Maine is the $65 billion investment to expand broadband to communities that lack it altogether or have only slow, inconsistent service. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and I wrote these broadband provisions. The ten of us who negotiated this package with the Administration worked night and day for months to produce infrastructure investments that will create jobs and strengthen our economy for years to come,” Senator Collins said.
Click HERE to read more about the new law.
HAVANA Act of 2021
“As principal author of this new law, I worked with Senators Mark Warner of Virginia, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee; Marco Rubio of Florida, the vice chairman; and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to ensure that intelligence community and diplomatic personnel injured by an unidentified pulsed energy device while on assignment for our government receive the health care and compensation that they need. In some cases, these government personnel have suffered permanent neurological and cognitive damage. At long last, the U.S. government will provide employees who have been injured by these devastating attacks with the health care and compensation they deserve,” Senator Collins said.
Havana Syndrome was first identified in Havana, Cuba, in 2016, but since that time there have been numerous attacks on U.S. government personnel in several other countries.
Click HERE to read more about the new law.
Protecting Moms Who Served Act of 2021
Working with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a combat-injured disabled veteran, Senator Collins was the lead Republican on legislation requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide training and support for maternity health care professionals caring for veterans. The bill also mandates studies to determine why there are wide racial disparities in maternal death rates in our country.
“It was an honor to work with Senator Duckworth, a mother and a veteran, on legislation to improve the quality of maternal care provided to our veterans,” Senator Collins said.
Click HERE to read more about the new law.
The Washington Examiner also listed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act; the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act; the bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to the U.S. Capitol Police who protected the Capitol on January 6, 2021; and a bill to prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China as other examples of bipartisan accomplishments. Senator Collins co-sponsored these Senate bills and supported the House bill awarding congressional gold medals to the U.S. Capitol Police when it passed the Senate unanimously.
