In The News
Sen. Shaheen targets ‘junk’ health plans
by Alex LaCasse
EXETER -- U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is pushing legislation to protect people from being led into purchasing what she calls "junk" health-care plans. Shaheen, D-N.H., held a meeting with a group of public health officials at Exeter Hospital Friday to discuss the state of health care delivery, especially to more vulnerable populations. The senator said the Protect Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act is intended to block the Trump administration from using federal tax credits to promote enr… Continue Reading
February 14, 2019
Shaheen bill: Age 50-plus could buy into Medicare
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan have introduced a bill to give people between the ages of 50 and 64 the option of buying into Medicare. The senators, both Democrats, said in a statement Thursday that millions of Americans who are approaching retirement or are being forced to retire early due to layoffs or mandatory retirement face increasing health care needs and rising costs. They say allowing more people to buy into Medicare ha… Continue Reading
February 07, 2019
Trump pushes an anti-abortion agenda abroad while paying lip service to women's empowerment
by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Nita Lowey
President Trump, during Tuesday's State of the Union, announced, with few details, that the administration would be "launching the first ever government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries." But while we share the goal of empowering women in developing countries, the overall health and socioeconomic wellbeing of women and girls depend in no small part on the availability of evidence-based health care services and information. The administration h… Continue Reading
February 06, 2019
Clean water advocate calls State of the Union ‘surreal’
by Jeff McMenemy
ORTSMOUTH -- Environmental activist Andrea Amico could not have had a better view of Tuesday night's State of the Union address. "I was up in the gallery directly in front of President Trump. I got to see him kind of head-on," Amico said Wednesday evening after flying home from Washington, D.C. "The first lady was off to the right of me, not directly near me but I could clearly see her and Ivanka (Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.)" The Portsmouth mother attended the State of the Union address as… Continue Reading
February 05, 2019
Addressing costs: Battle on against high prescription drug prices
by Grace Pecci
NASHUA - U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Nashua Public Health Director Bobbie Bagley know many people have to balance paying for rent, utilities, food and prescription drugs. They know this because members of their own families have felt the impact of constantly increasing prescription drug prices. During a Monday meeting at the United Way of Greater Nashua office, Bagley gave an example of someone who has to buy insulin. "They buy all the insulin they need. They take some of it, and t… Continue Reading
January 10, 2019
Don’t let Islamic State monsters get away with murder
by Jeanne Shaheen and Diane Foley
Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, represents New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate and is a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. Diane Foley is the mother of James Foley, an American journalist murdered by the Islamic State in 2014, and founder and president of the James W. Foley Foundation. It was 2014 when the public executions of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig awakened the American public and the world to the threat of the Islamic State. In January 2018, U.S.-bac… Continue Reading
January 07, 2019
N.H. Farmers Meet With Senator Shaheen To Discuss Impacts From Government Shutdown
by Robert Garrova
Senator Jeanne Shaheen met Friday with about a dozen representatives from New Hampshire's farming industry to discuss how the partial government shutdown is affecting them. It's not just federal workers who are starting to feel the effects of the shutdown. Because of the lapse in funding, USDA Farm Service Agency programs that allow farmers to take out low-interest loans have been stalled. Robert Wellington is with Agri-Mark dairy farms. He said trade tensions with China are the biggest wor… Continue Reading
January 07, 2019
Amid planned Syria withdrawal, U.S. scrambling to find places to send ISIS detainees
by Courtney Kube and Josh Lederman
President Trump's surprise announcement that he was pulling the U.S. military out of Syria came with no plan in place for what to do about more than 790 imprisoned ISIS fighters and their families. Now his administration is in a frantic search for solutions, including a renewed look at sending the most dangerous fighters to Guantanamo Bay, U.S. and congressional officials tell NBC News. The scramble has been complicated by the fact that the timeline for the planned U.S. withdrawal keeps evolvin… Continue Reading
December 30, 2018
Farm bill bonus: This year's reauthorization includes a potential leg up for Cheshire County
by Editorial
It wasn't a perfect bill, by any means; the political fodder that is the Department of Agriculture's omnibus funding bill is, every five years, a new opportunity for pork and policy tuning. And so it was with this year's farm bill. On the former, we'll simply note that one legislator's pork is another's justifiable aid, and that the entire point of what was originally called the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was to pay farmers not to grow certain crops. As for the policy issues, this … Continue Reading
December 15, 2018
Farm bill awaiting Trump's signature would benefit county
by Liora Engel-Smith
A provision that would make Cheshire County eligible for special economic development grants is headed to the president's desk, as part of a farm bill that cleared Congress this week. The $867 billion bill passed by a 386-47 vote in the U.S. House Wednesday after winning favor in the Senate, 87-13, the previous day. If President Donald Trump signs the bill into law, Cheshire County will officially become part of the Northern Border Regional Commission, a state-federal partnership tha… Continue Reading
December 14, 2018
Manchester Gets $3.7M From HUD To Remediate Lead Paint In Low-Income Housing
by Annie Ropeik
The federal government will give Manchester $3.7 million to address lead paint issues in city homes. The money comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of grants given out across the country. New Hampshire's Congressional delegation praised the funding as a way to help vulnerable families in the city's oldest housing. "This funding will allow the City of Manchester to perform healthy home assessments and address lead hazards in 180 housing units to ensure the safety … Continue Reading
December 14, 2018
New Hampshire man receives long-awaited Purple Heart medal
by Emily Sweeney
More than seven decades after he was wounded in World War II, Melrose native Francis Byrne finally received his Purple Heart. The 94-year-old veteran was presented the medal at a ceremony at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, N.H., on Friday morning. It was an honor he'd been waiting years to receive. The moment finally arrived after the Manchester Police Department escorted Byrne from his home in Manchester to the hospital, where he received the long-awaited honor. Brigadier General David J. Mik… Continue Reading
December 13, 2018
Senators want PFAS studies to include firefighters
by Jeff McMenemy
PORTSMOUTH - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators led by Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are calling for federal health officials to take immediate action to address firefighter exposure to PFAS chemicals. Twenty-one senators signed on to the letter sent Thursday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). "As you are aware, PFAS chemicals are a byproduct of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), a fire suppres… Continue Reading
December 06, 2018
World War II veteran battling cancer will receive Purple Heart, officials say
by Christine DeLong Wheeler
MANCHESTER, N.H. - A U.S. Army veteran from Manchester who never received a Purple Heart after being injured during World War II will finally be recognized for his service and sacrifice. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced Thursday that Cpl. Francis Byrne will finally be awarded a Purple Heart. Her office has been working on his application since August. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was injured in the line of duty in Belgium when he was hit by shrapnel from a landmine. His lieuten… Continue Reading
December 06, 2018
World War II veteran to get his Purple Heart
by Paul Feely
MANCHESTER - A World War II veteran from Manchester is getting his dying wish - a Purple Heart Award, to be presented at a ceremony in his honor more than seven decades after he was injured. Francis Byrne, 94, of Manchester, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 at the age of 18. He saw his first combat on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day a year later, and was injured in the line of duty in Belgium when he was hit by shrapnel from a German land mine. His story was featured recently in the New Hamp… Continue Reading
November 23, 2018
Funding included for dredging of Hampton harbor
by Max Sullivan
HAMPTON -- Officials concerned the Hampton Harbor was becoming shallow beyond use celebrated new funding for the harbor's emergency dredging this week. The $4.6 million needed to complete the dredging was included in the Army Corps of Engineers' 2019 Work Plan, according to U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office. Shaheen and other New Hampshire congressional delegates praised the Army Corps for including the funding to get the work completed next year. Shoaling has caused sand to collect in the har… Continue Reading
November 16, 2018
Shaheen, Tillis lead delegation to security forum
CONCORD, N.H. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina are leading a bipartisan delegation attending an international security conference in Canada. The group is participating in the 10th annual Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Three hundred delegates from around the world are discussing strategic cooperation on common global security goals. Shaheen and Tillis are the co-chairs of the recently re-e… Continue Reading
November 13, 2018
'GEAR UP' Manchester programming slated to debut in early 2019
by Paul Feely
MANCHESTER - School board members heard an update on how a federal grant providing $10.5 million over the next seven years will help low-income students in Manchester middle schools. Earlier this year, U.S. senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, both Democrats, and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH, announced a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant for $1,572,534 per year over the next seven years to the New Hampshire College & University Council. … Continue Reading
November 12, 2018
Senators, advocates push for USS Thresher disaster memorial
by Adam Sexton
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - A renewed effort is underway to memorialize the 129 sailors and civilians who were lost aboard the USS Thresher, a submarine that sank off the New England coast in 1963. In the deadliest submarine disaster in U.S. history, the USS Thresher went down on April 10, 1963, during deep-diving tests, sinking in 8,000 feet of water about 200 miles off Cape Cod. None of the 129 men aboard the Portsmouth-based vessel survived. "It was a national event," said Kevin Galeaz of the US… Continue Reading
November 11, 2018
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan: Protecting consumers from exorbitant – often surprise – out-of-pocket health care costs
by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan
Imagine opening the mail to find a massive, unexpected medical bill that throws your entire budget into disarray, like the man from Concord who sought treatment for a cut to his finger and was charged $3,500. He was unaware that he was seen by a physician who wasn't covered under his insurance which resulted in a much higher fee. Or the man from Texas who had a heart attack, was sent to an out-of-network hospital, and charged $108,951 in out-of-pocket costs for care. Or maybe you don't have to … Continue Reading
