Rosen Highlights Legislative Accomplishments During 116th Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), released the following statement highlighting her many legislative actions during the 116th Congress. Senator Rosen was named as one of the most active and bipartisan Freshman members of the Senate. During the 116th Congress, Rosen introduced 33 bills and 4 resolutions and co-led more than half a dozen others, 7 of which became law or will soon become law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, and 14 of which passed the Senate. She also co-sponsored  114 bills and resolutions that passed the Senate, 14 of which became law, and 4 more expected to be signed into law this month. Overall, 92% of the bills and resolutions Senator Rosen has introduced have been bipartisan.

“I’m glad to have to built a record of partnering with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in order to introduce and pass critical legislation,” said Senator Rosen. Whether it’s working to create jobs and support our state’s small businesses and workforce, or efforts to increase access to quality, affordable health care, I will not stop fighting to improve the lives of Nevadans.”

BACKGROUND: During the 116th Congress, Senator Rosen was named as one of the most active and bipartisan Freshman senators.

Senator Rosen’s bipartisan bills, broken up by key issue areas, include:

Jobs, Small Business, Workforce Training, and STEM Education 

  • Building Blocks of STEM: Introduced alongside Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the bill creates and expands upon STEM education initiatives at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for young children, including new research grants to increase the participation of girls in computer science. This legislation is one of only 35 standalone Senate bills introduced by a Democrat to be signed into law this Congress.
  • EIDL for Small Businesses Act: Introduced alongside Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the bill provides $180 billion in aid to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic through the EIDL and EIDL Advance programs and lifts the caps on both programs. A key part of this legislation – funding $10,000 EIDL Advance grants for low-income businesses and allowing many past EIDL Advance recipients of all sizes to get the full $10,000 grant – was included in the COVID relief package that recently passed the House and Senate.
  • Advanced Manufacturing Jobs in America Act: Introduced alongside Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the bill requires the Department of Labor to create an advanced manufacturing apprenticeship pilot program.
  • The Filtering and Retrofitting the Environment for Safe and Healthy Activities Indoors and Revenue (FRESH AIR) for Businesses Act: Introduced alongside Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bill provides a refundable tax credit to businesses and non-profit organizations that purchase or upgrade their air ventilation, filtration, and purification systems to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.
  • STEM RESTART Act: Introduced alongside Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), the bill creates a new program to support mid-career re-entry “returnships” in STEM.
  • Cyber Ready Workforce Act: Introduced alongside Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bill authorizes apprenticeship programs to help train our cyber workforce.
  • Small Manufacturer Cybersecurity Enhancement Act: Introduced alongside Senator Todd Young (R-IN), the bill provides cybersecurity assistance for small manufacturers in the defense industrial supply chain. This legislation passed the House and Senate as part of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act and is expected to become law.
  • Improving Cybersecurity of Small Organizations Act: Introduced alongside Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), this bill requires the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) to maintain and promote cybersecurity best practices guidance for small organizations, which includes small businesses, small non-profits, and small governmental agencies.
  • Improving Telework Cybersecurity for Small Organizations Act: Introduced alongside Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), the bill directs CISA, in consultation with the FTC, to publish resources of best practices for small businesses, non-profits, and local governments to boost cybersecurity with respect to teleworking, as a result of COVID-19.
  • Small Business Child Care Investment Act: Introduced alongside Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), the bill allows nonprofit child care providers to participate in the loan programs of the Small Business Administration. The legislation passed the Senate as part of that chamber’s version of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
  • Teach Computer Science Act: Introduced alongside Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Mitt Romney (R-UT), the bill supports teacher training and schools in educating students in the area of computer science.

Health Care

Veterans & Servicemembers

  • Hire Student Veterans Act: Introduced alongside Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bill expands the existing Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to ensure that all student veterans using their GI benefits can take advantage of valuable paid internships or work opportunities while in school.
  • Veterans Jobs Opportunity Act: Introduced alongside Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bill creates a small business startup tax credit for those who open up a business in underserved communities.
  • Affordable Housing for Veterans Act: Introduced alongside Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), the bill ensures that veterans are proactively made aware of their VA home loan options, including providing them with side-by-side information about whether such information is more affordable than a conventional loan.
  • GI Bill Planning Act: Introduced alongside Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), the bill provides military enlistees additional time to pick their preferred GI Bill education benefits, rather than having to do so at Basic Training.
  • Veterans Assistance Helpline Act: Introduced alongside Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Gary Peters (D-MI), the bill requires the FCC to designate a three-digit dialing code for veterans’ services.
  • VA Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2020: Introduced alongside Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bill requires the VA to establish a Zero Suicide Initiative pilot program at five VA centers, including one that serves rural veterans. 
  • PROMOTES Act: Introduced alongside Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Gary Peters (D-MI), this bill authorizes the Secretary of Defense to establish a grant program for STEM in JROTC units. This legislation passed the House and Senate as part of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act and is expected to become law.
  • JROTC Cyber Training Act: Introduced alongside Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Gary Peters (D-MI), this bill directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a program to enhance the preparation of students in JROTC programs for careers in computer science and cybersecurity.

Broadband

  • Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act: Introduced alongside Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE), Todd Young (R-IN), and Brian Schatz (D-HI), the bill would direct the FCC to include data on maternal health outcomes in its broadband maps, used to determine where there are gaps in connectivity. This legislation is one of only about 100 standalone Senate bills introduced by a Democrat to pass the Senate this Congress.
  • Broadband Parity Act: Introduced alongside Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the bill would ensure that all federal broadband programs offer high-speed internet at the FCC-defined level of “high-speed”.

Combating Anti-Semitism

  • Never Again Education Act: Introduced alongside Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the bill provides teachers with the resources and training necessary to teach students the important lessons of the Holocaust. This legislation passed the House and Senate and was signed into law.
  • Auschwitz Liberation 75th Anniversary Resolution: Introduced alongside Senator James Lankford (R-OK), this resolution commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by Allied Forces during World War II.  By unanimous consent, the resolution passed the Senate.

Senator Rosen has also introduced bills to repurpose Yucca Mountain and manage Nevada’s public lands in Lander County and Carson City, in addition to bipartisan legislation to invest in cybersecurity training (included in FY2021 NDAA and soon to become law), protect our bulk power system from cyber-attacks, support first responder mental health, hold corrupt public officials accountable (passed by committee), support diversity in media, honor the women of our aviation workforce, and strengthen the US-Israel relationship. She has also filed floor amendments adopted by the Senate to increase funding for distance learning and telemedicine programs and support invasive species management at Lake Tahoe.

Senator Rosen has also served as the co-lead of several Republican-led bills, including:

  • HACKED Act and the CYBER LEAP Act: Introduced by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and co-led by Senator Rosen, these two bills improve the cyber workforce and establish cyber grand challenges, respectively. Both passed the House and Senate as part of the FY2021 NDAA and will soon become law.
  • DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act: Introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and co-led by Senator Rosen, this bill ensures that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel have adequate chemical screening devices for synthetic opioid detection and requires DHS to create a database to track newly identified synthetic opioids crossing U.S. borders. This legislation passed the House and Senate and will soon become law.
  • Advancing Research to Prevent Suicide Act: Introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), this bill requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award grants to institutions of higher education that support research on suicide on suicide treatment and prevention. This legislation recently passed the Senate.
  • Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act: Introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), this bill upgrades the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to the rank of an ambassador. This legislation recently passed the Senate.

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