Christopher Coons

Increasing Access to Dental Insurance Act

This bill permits individuals to enroll in a dental benefits plan on a health insurance exchange without also enrolling in a qualified health plan.

Rural Veterinary Workforce Act

This bill excludes from gross income, for federal tax purposes, payments received pursuant to the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program or any state loan repayment or loan forgiveness program that is intended to provide for increased access to veterinary services. (The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program is a Department of Agriculture program that repays a portion of the student loans of veterinarians who provide short-term services in designated veterinary shortage areas.)

This resolution condemns China's Hong Kong national security law (officially called The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), the Hong Kong government's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and related human rights abuses. The resolution also (1) supports the people of Hong Kong as they fight to exercise fundamental rights and freedoms; and (2) calls upon the Hong Kong government to drop all sedition and national security law-related charges and free all defendants immediately, including Jimmy Lai.

This resolution designates May 29, 2025, as Mental Health Awareness in Agriculture Day to raise awareness around mental health in the agricultural industry and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act

This bill provides for the award of Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team in recognition of the team's achievement at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

Break Up Suspicious Transactions of Fentanyl Act or the BUST FENTANYL Act

This bill revives a requirement for the President to identify foreign opioid traffickers and extends opioid trafficking sanctions to new categories of foreign persons (individuals and entities) whose actions support such trafficking.

Specifically, the bill revives through 2030 a requirement that the President annually submit a report to Congress identifying foreign opioid traffickers. (For those listed in the report, the President must select certain sanctions to impose on them, such as bans on loans, foreign exchange transactions, and property transactions.) The bill also specifies that such reports must prioritize the identification of Chinese nationals and entities involved in the shipment of fentanyl, fentanyl-related chemicals, and fentanyl manufacturing equipment to Mexico or any other country involved in the production of fentanyl trafficked to the United States.

The bill extends such foreign opioid trafficker sanctions to additional categories of foreign persons, including those that have knowingly (1) engaged in significant activities or financial transactions that materially contributed to opioid trafficking; or (2) provided financial, material, or technological support for such activities or transactions.

The bill also authorizes the President to impose these sanctions on foreign government entities, including government owned or controlled financial institutions, that are involved in activities that contribute to opioid trafficking. Additionally, the President may impose property-blocking sanctions on senior officials of these foreign government entities who knowingly facilitate such activities.

Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2025

This bill establishes the Interagency Task Force on Patents to support coordination and communication between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on activities relating to patents for human drugs and biological products.

The task force's duties shall include sharing information about (1) the processes of each agency, including how each agency evaluates applications (e.g., patent applications at the USPTO and new drug applications at the FDA); and (2) new approvals of patents, human drugs, biological products, and new technologies. The task force must also establish a process that requires (1) the USPTO to request from the FDA information relating to certain patent applications to help patent examiners carry out their duties, (2) the FDA to provide such information to the USPTO, and (3) the USPTO to assist the FDA in its ministerial role of listing patents.

Lulu’s Law

This act requires the Federal Communications Commission to issue an order explicitly permitting the transmission of wireless emergency alerts to mobile phones in the event of a shark attack.

(Under current regulations, authorized government authorities are permitted to send wireless emergency alerts regarding public safety emergencies, including severe weather, missing children, and other threats to life or property.)

Connecting Small Businesses with Career and Technical Education Graduates Act

This bill includes within the responsibilities of Small Business Development Centers and Women's Business Centers the provision of assistance to small businesses in hiring graduates from career and technical education programs and to graduates of such programs in starting small businesses.

Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act

This bill authorizes actions to facilitate trade in medical goods (i.e., medical devices, pharmaceutical goods, or inputs for such devices or goods).

Specifically, the bill authorizes the President to (1) negotiate, enter into, and enforce a trusted trade partner agreement with a country or countries with respect to medical goods; and (2) proclaim a modification of any existing duty, a continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or additional duties to carry out the trade agreement. These actions may only be taken if the President determines, based on specified considerations, that the reciprocal elimination of existing duties or other import restrictions with respect to medical goods would contribute to U.S. national security and public health.

A trusted trade partner agreement may include certain provisions, such as those to (1) reduce or eliminate duties, quotas, or other trade barriers; (2) diversify and expand supplier networks to secure a reliable supply of medical goods; and (3) harmonize regulatory procedures.

Not later than 60 days before initiating negotiations with a trusted trade partner, the President must submit written notice to Congress. The bill requires congressional consultation and review of these trade agreements. A trade agreement shall not take effect if, during the required review period, Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative must monitor compliance by a trusted trade partner with the trade agreement's commitments and obligations. Further, the President may take certain actions in response to a failure to comply.

Safe Schools Improvement Act

This bill requires states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit bullying and harassment of elementary and secondary school students. In particular, these policies must prohibit bullying and harassment based on race, color, national origin, disability, religion, or sex. Sex includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics (including intersex traits).

Further, LEAs must provide (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level.

The Department of Education must conduct and report on an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics must collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.

Veterans Member Business Loan Act

This bill excludes from credit union aggregate loan limitations member business loans made to veterans.

This joint resolution terminates the national emergency declared by President Donald J. Trump on February 1, 2025, which imposed an additional 25% tariff on most imports from Canada (except for Canadian energy or energy resources, which have an additional 10% tariff).

Tariff Transparency Act of 2025

This bill requires the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate and report to Congress on the impact of additional tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. (President Donald J. Trump issued executive orders on February 1, 2025, to impose an additional 25% tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico. These tariffs applied to all imports, except for Canadian energy or energy resources, which have an additional 10% tariff.)

Specifically, the report must assess (1) the impact of these tariffs on consumer prices; (2) the impact of any retaliation (e.g., retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions) imposed by Canada and Mexico on U.S. consumers, small businesses, farmers, and ranchers; and (3) the impact of the threat of tariffs and associated uncertainty with respect to the trade relationship between the United States, Canada, and Mexico on U.S. businesses.