WASHINGTON — Legislation sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith authorizing $150 million for research into Lyme disease has cleared the U.S. House and went to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The measure was named in honor of former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-North Carolina), who died in 2019 due to a tick borne disease.
The money will fund research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was scheduled to expire at the end of the month. It also will provide funding to states with elevated risks of Lyme or other tick-borne diseases.
“Vector-borne diseases are now endemic in regions of the country where they have not historically been present,” said Smith (R–Manchester), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Caucus. “Disease-laden ticks are now found in all 48 contiguous U.S. states. The problem is exploding—not abating.”
Gottheimer helps form new bipartisan caucus to address campus antisemitism
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) has teamed up with Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) to form a new bipartisan congressional caucus focusing on antisemitism on college campuses.
Stefanik, who received national attention over her questioning of college presidents during the campus protests that erupted after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel, and Gottheimer announced the Combating Antisemitism on College Campuses Caucus during a recent visit to Vanderbilt University.
There, they joined a discussion with six university leaders on how to combat Jew-hatred while protecting free expression.
The goal of the caucus is to ensure colleges and universities protect their Jewish students, faculty and staff. It will provide a forum for lawmakers to coordinate oversight of higher education institutions, push colleges and universities to enforce anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, advocate for federal legislation addressing campus antisemitism and highlight schools that are successfully addressing the issue and share those practices.
“Since Oct. 7, Jewish students on too many campuses have been harassed, intimidated and made to feel like strangers in their own school,” Gottheimer said.
Kim moves to eliminate benefit waiting periods for Americans with disabilities
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim has introduced legislation to eliminate the delay for Americans with disabilities to receive Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits.
The senator said that applicants for disability insurance now have to wait five months and those seeking Medicare disability insurance benefits have to wait 24 months. The bill would phase out waiting periods for Social Security disability insurance and eliminate them for those on Medicare who are uninsured or can’t afford health insurance.
“It is horrifying that any American should be forced to endure months or even years of waiting for benefits they worked hard to earn,” Kim said. “Care cannot be put on hold. Congress needs to step up for our disability community and end these harmful waiting periods once and for all.”