In The News
The Afghan All-Girl Robotics Team Just Had Another Major Win
by Natalie Gontcharova
The Afghan all-girls robotics team is racking up the victories this year. When attempting to travel to the U.S. for the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition this past summer, the team was denied entrytwice for unknown reasons. But at the last minute, they were able to enter the country with intervention from the government and finished with a silver medal for courage at the competition in Washington, D.C. Last weekend, the six teenage girls scored another major win, earning the Entrepre… Continue Reading
November 28, 2017
Women Leaders Aren't Making Enough Foreign Policy Decisions, And It's a Problem
by Meredith Horowski and Lillyanne Daigle
In this op-ed, Beyond the Bomb, co-founders Meredith Horowski and Lillyanne Daigle call to attention the lack of female voices in foreign policy. One day after President Trump's inauguration, millions of women - and some men - from coast to coast took to the streets for the Women's March in one of the most remarkable grassroots uprisings in recent decades. We were disgusted by the malignant behavior of our new president, an accused sexual predator and a swaggering bully. We were outraged by the… Continue Reading
November 28, 2017
Sen. Shaheen Leads Bipartisan Letter to the State Department, Seeking to Measure the Harm of Trump's "Global Gag Rule"
by Mattie Kahn
In a letter sent to Sec. of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month, four senators from both parties expressed their "grave concerns about the impact" of the global gag rule, which bans humanitarian organizations around the world from receiving U.S. funds if they provide women with or even just refer women to abortion services. The rule has been implemented under every Republican administration since Ronald Reagan was in office and overturned under every subsequent Democratic president. But when… Continue Reading
November 24, 2017
Shaheen touts Small Business Saturday in Newmarket
NEWMARKET - U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen visited several small businesses in downtown Newmarket earlier this week, including Lana's House, the Painted Peach and Good Juju by Ceci, to highlight Small Business Saturday taking place Nov. 25. Small Business Saturday is meant to encourage shoppers to buy from and support local small businesses. Shaheen is the lead Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. "We were so honored to have Sen. Jeanne Shaheen come to Newmark… Continue Reading
November 21, 2017
Shaheen argues Senate GOP tax bill would hurt N.H. homeowners
by Paul Steinhauser
New Hampshire's senior senator is taking aim at the GOP tax plan making its way through the U.S. Senate. "The bottom line for me is that this is a tax plan that's going to undermine middle-class families. It's not going to give them the tax breaks that they need," Democrat Jeanne Shaheen declared in an interview with the Monitor. Shaheen's comments came minutes before she sat down for a roundtable discussion with real estate professionals in Londonderry on what she said would be the bill's neg… Continue Reading
November 21, 2017
Farmington Police get $125,000 federal grant
FARMINGTON - The Farmington Police Department is one of several in New Hampshire to benefit from federal funding to hire additional law enforcement officers and invest in community policing efforts. The $500,000 in funding for New Hampshire, which was announced on Monday by U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, was awarded through the COPS Hiring Program (CHP), which is managed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Farmington Police Chief John Drury said the $125,000 his department is get… Continue Reading
November 20, 2017
Grant Bosse: Shaheen sounded the alarm on Kaspersky
by Grant Bosse
The only thing I knew about Kaspersky Lab was that it used to sponsor the New England Patriots' radio broadcast.That was until this summer, when New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen started ringing alarm bells about the anti-virus software company.Shaheen sits on a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee that received a classified report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Shaheen can't share everything she knows, but there has been enough publicly-reported smoke for Shaheen to call for pu… Continue Reading
November 17, 2017
Shaheen Bill To Toughen Federal Checks on Gun Buyers
by Paige Sutherland
Senator Jeanne Shaheen has teamed up with colleagues across the aisle to sponsor a bill, introduced Thursday, that seeks to strengthen the federal database on gun background checks. Shaheen says the federal database, known as NICS, is "woefully" flawed and needs to be changed. Under the new legislation, there would be incentives for states and federal agencies to report to the database and punishments for failing to do so. Shaheen says holes in the system have become even more apparent since … Continue Reading
November 17, 2017
Foreign Service leadership being ‘decapitated’ and ‘depleted at a dizzying speed’
by Joe Davidson
When President Trump reported on his trip to Asia, he heaped praise on himself and said the nation's "standing in the world has never been stronger than it is right now." Using "I" 42 times in his 23-minute speech Wednesday, he declared "NATO, believe me, is very happy with Donald Trump and what I did," as he touted previous accomplishments. Trump's unmatched self-adulation might cloud his view of the hard work by foreign service staffers and their increased difficulties because of his adminis… Continue Reading
November 16, 2017
Shaheen joins GOP senators in push to improve gun background checks
by Paul Steinhauser
New Hampshire's senior U.S. senator is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers trying to strengthen the national background check system for weapons purchases. The move comes less than two weeks after a mass shooting at a Texas church that may have been averted if authorities had reported the shooter's violent history. Democrat Jeanne Shaheen joined seven other senators Thursday to introduce the Fix NICS Act. NICS is the acronym for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which… Continue Reading
November 16, 2017
Shaheen introduces bill to prioritize opioid funding to hardest-hit states
by John DiStaso
TARGETED OPIOID FORMULA ACT. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has been a leading voice on Capitol Hill demanding a change in the way federal opioid funding is distributed to the states under the 21st Century Cures Act, which was passed and signed into law last year by then-President Barack Obama. The New Hampshire Democrat has argued that funding from the law should be directed to the states suffering the most from the opioid crisis, rather than basing the funding solely on states' populations. That formula… Continue Reading
November 15, 2017
State Department’s plan for staff cuts causing new worry in Congress
by Carol Morello
A growing, bipartisan number of lawmakers are expressing alarm over anticipated personnel cuts at the State Department, saying they have contributed to plummeting morale and will undermine diplomacy and foreign policy for years to come. In the latest example, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday to lift a hiring freeze and promote experienced Foreign Service officers, requesting in a letter more details about Tillerson's reo… Continue Reading
November 14, 2017
Shaheen, Hassan look to bring more federal money to N.H. for opioid crisis
by Paul Steinhauser
New Hampshire's two U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced a bill that would increase federal funding to states such as New Hampshire that are severely impacted by the drug crisis. The measure, known as the Targeted Opioid Formula Act, would prioritize grants from Washington to states hardest-hit by the heroin and opioid epidemic. The legislation was co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. The Granite State ranks second in the country, behind West Virginia, in the numbe… Continue Reading
November 09, 2017
Defense bill includes 3,500 more visas for Afghans who helped US troops
by Rebecca Kheel
The annual defense policy bill would provide 3,500 more visas for Afghans who helped U.S. troops. "The conferees believe the special immigrant visa program continues to be critical for the U.S. government's operations in Afghanistan," a conference report released Thursday says. The special immigrant visa program is meant to help Afghans facing threats to their lives for serving as interpreters or otherwise assisting U.S. troops. The program nearly lapsed earlier this year due to a lack of ava… Continue Reading
November 09, 2017
Defense bill includes funds for PFC study
by Jeff McMenemy
PORTSMOUTH -- U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. announced Wednesday afternoon that the final Senate- and House-negotiated defense authorization bill includes her bipartisan amendment to pay for the first-ever study on the health effects of PFC exposure in drinking water. The study will look to give answers to thousands of people exposed to PFCs at the former Pease Air Force Base here - including at two day care centers - about what the health impacts are from the chemicals. "I've spoken with Gr… Continue Reading
November 09, 2017
Defense bill includes 3,500 more visas for Afghans who helped US troops
by Rebecca Kheel
The annual defense policy bill would provide 3,500 more visas for Afghans who helped U.S. troops. "The conferees believe the special immigrant visa program continues to be critical for the U.S. government's operations in Afghanistan," a conference report released Thursday says. The special immigrant visa program is meant to help Afghans facing threats to their lives for serving as interpreters or otherwise assisting U.S. troops. The program nearly lapsed earlier this year due to a lack of ava… Continue Reading
November 07, 2017
Senators look to bolster background check system after Texas shooting
by Seung Min Kim
Senators are slowly turning on the legislative spigot following the shooting at a rural Texas church that left more than two dozen dead. The efforts in the Senate are being spurred by the U.S. Air Force's disclosure late Monday that officials did not submit information to a federal database that the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, had a history of domestic assault that should have prevented him from owning firearms. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) is speaking privately with at least … Continue Reading
November 06, 2017
Trump signs into law Sens. Collins, Shaheen bill on diabetes
CONCORD, N.H. - President Trump has signed into law a bill authored by Sens. Susan Collins and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire that establishes a national commission of health care experts on diabetes care and prevention. Shaheen, a Democrat, and Collins, a Republican, say the legislation would bring together public and private sector experts, clinical endocrinologists and others involved in diabetes research and treatment to focus on improving education, care delivery and patient outcomes. Th… Continue Reading
November 06, 2017
Shaheen Visits Pelham Career Pathways program
by Kristen Giddings
PELHAM - U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen visited Pelham High School on Friday for a round-table discussion with students, teachers and staff to learn about The Career Pathways initiative, a program to help guide and prepare students for careers that may interest them. The Career Pathways program, developed and launched by Pelham Dean of Students Anne Fowler six years ago, outlines several different "pathways" students can choose from, depending on their interests and goals for the future. Guidance is … Continue Reading
November 03, 2017
Shaheen, N.H. students pitch to keep student loan deduction
by Paul Steinhauser
Olivia Teixeira worries the proposed elimination of the student loan interest deduction in the federal tax code will hurt her after graduation when she gets a job and starts paying off her college education. Teixeira, a sophomore at Saint Anselm College, spoke Friday at a roundtable discussion led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and organized by the New Hampshire College and University Council. "I'm hoping to raise awareness to students because I didn't really know that this was happening," the second-… Continue Reading
