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WASHINGTON—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and David McKinley (R-WV) cheered House passage of their National Heritage Areas Act, H.R. 1316, today as part of H.R. 803, the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act. This bipartisan legislation streamlines the existing patchwork system for U.S. Heritage Areas by providing formal guidance to the local partnerships that… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and Michael Turner (R-OH) and Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced the reintroduction of their Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, legislation that would vastly increase access to life-saving addiction medicine by eliminating a duplicative bureaucratic hurdle—colloquially known as the… Read more »

WASHINGTON—As millions of American struggle with mental health and substance use disorder challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and David Trone (D-MD) along with Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN), Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) announced today that they introduced the Behavioral Health Coordination and Communication Act of 2021,… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko questioned COVID vaccine manufacturers at a Congressional hearing today on what limitations they are still facing in COVID vaccine production and what solutions they are considering to increase the supply and distribution of vaccinations across the United Sates. Today’s hearing was hosted by the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and… Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC—Representatives Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) introduced today the Advancing Enrollment and Reducing Drug Costs Act, legislation that would expand low-income seniors’ access to prescription drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, also known as Medicare Part D. Medicare Part D was created to help low-income seniors afford their… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko sent a letter today to the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna—ahead of an upcoming Oversight & Investigation Subcommittee hearing on expanding availability of COVID-19 vaccines next week—to formally request information and guidance on why emergency production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations are not moving faster and what Congress and the federal… Read more »

WASHINGTON—U.S. Representatives Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and David McKinley (R-WV) introduced their Helping Experts Accelerate Rare Treatments (HEART) Act today, widely-supported bipartisan legislation that strengthens the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review process for drugs that treat rare and ultra-rare diseases by directly involving scientists and doctors with expertise… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko released local impact figures today under the Fiscal Year 2021 Reconciliation Act currently moving through the House and Senate. The rescue package would deliver an estimated $440 million in direct federal COVID-19 relief funding to counties, cities, towns, and villages in New York’s 20th Congressional District—which is represented by Tonko—to maintain… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko heralded the advance of his bipartisan Medicaid Reentry Act today as part of the COVID-19 relief budget reconciliation bill currently being debated by the full House Committee on Energy & Commerce. Tonko’s bill empowers states to restore Medicaid eligibility for incarcerated individuals up to 30 days before their release to ensure those… Read more »

WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko will be battling in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce today as the full committee marks up its budget reconciliation COVID rescue package. Rep. Tonko’s priorities for the package include vital provisions to empower states to use Medicaid to support vulnerable populations through his recently-introduced bipartisan Medicaid Reentry Act as well… Read more »