This Senate resolution celebrates the July 2026 NATO Summit held in Ankara, Türkiye, and reaffirms the United States' commitment to collective defense under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. It commends NATO allies for pledging $80 billion in military support for Ukraine in 2026 and highlights the alliance's goal for members to spend at least 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035. The resolution also urges the Department of Defense to consult with all NATO allies during its force posture review and encourages continued support for Ukraine through initiatives like the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List.
The Lebanon Sanctions, Stabilization, and Support Act authorizes the President to impose financial penalties and visa bans on foreign individuals or entities that support Hezbollah, impede Lebanese government disarmament efforts, or obstruct banking reforms in Lebanon. To promote stability, the bill directs federal funding for humanitarian aid, infrastructure reconstruction, and the salaries of Lebanese security forces, with a specific requirement that half of these funds be released only after the Lebanese government declares Hezbollah’s military activities illegal. Additionally, the legislation authorizes significant security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces over five years, contingent on progress in countering Iranian proxy forces and implementing state control over weapons.
The Strengthening Coast Guard Communities Act of 2026 transfers specific intergovernmental support agreement authorities from the Secretary of Defense to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. This change allows the Commandant to directly manage agreements that provide services and infrastructure support to Coast Guard communities, rather than requiring approval through the Department of Defense. To ensure transparency, the bill requires the Commandant to notify the relevant Senate and House committees in writing within 60 days of exercising this new authority.
The Constructing the Path to Suicide Prevention Act directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a study analyzing suicide risk factors among construction workers who have died by suicide. The investigation will examine specific variables such as employment status, union membership, health insurance coverage, substance use history, financial stress, and prior mental health diagnoses. To protect privacy, all collected data must adhere to applicable federal and state laws. Within three years of the bill’s enactment, the agency is required to submit a report to Congress containing policy recommendations for addressing these identified risk factors.
The HCBS Access Act would require states to cover home and community-based services (HCBS) as a mandatory benefit under Medicaid, effectively eliminating waiting lists for individuals with disabilities and older adults who need support to live in their communities rather than institutions. To fund this expansion, the bill provides a 100% federal matching rate for these services if states meet specific requirements, such as improving workforce wages, removing access barriers, and establishing infrastructure to support self-directed care models. Additionally, the legislation creates a national technical assistance center and authorizes grants to recruit, train, and retain direct care workers, while also prohibiting states from placing liens on the assets of Medicaid recipients for medical assistance correctly paid.
The Campus Lifeline Act expands federal grant programs to support student-led mental health and substance use disorder interventions at institutions of higher education. It authorizes funding for peer awareness activities, such as suicide prevention education and digital campaigns that encourage students to seek help, while requiring grantees to provide accessible resources for online and distance-learning students. Additionally, the bill directs the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program to coordinate with schools and universities to list hotline numbers on student identification cards and promote behavioral health resources through public service announcements.
This bill prohibits the Department of Defense from reclassifying or renaming ongoing military contingency operations if troops are still engaged in hostilities against the same enemy, even during ceasefires or diplomatic negotiations. It requires that casualty records and statistics remain permanently attributed to the original operation, preventing administrative changes from obscuring the human cost of war or resetting cumulative counts. Additionally, the legislation ensures that service members and civilian employees retain eligibility for deployment-related benefits, awards, and leave based on the original operation designation rather than any subsequent administrative redesignation. The bill also mandates the immediate restoration of casualty records and benefits for personnel involved in operations against Iran since February 28, 2026, and requires written notice to affected families and individuals regarding these restorations.
The Protecting Pentagon Press Access Act directs the Secretary of Defense to restore physical access for credentialed journalists to the Pentagon, specifically returning them to the Correspondents' Corridor and other designated workspaces that were accessible prior to May 2025. The bill mandates that reporters regain unescorted entry to these areas and establishes a security credentialing process managed by career officials within the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, explicitly prohibiting political interference or delays in the review. Additionally, it requires the Department of Defense to consult with congressional Armed Services Committees before making any future changes to press access policies, workspaces, or credential requirements.
The Supporting Disabled Entrepreneurs Act establishes a new position within the Small Business Administration’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights to coordinate support for businesses owned by individuals with disabilities. This Coordinator is tasked with developing strategies, facilitating outreach, and creating training programs to help these businesses access capital, counseling, and federal contracting opportunities. The bill requires the SBA to voluntarily collect data on the disability status of small business owners through intake forms and to publicly report on services provided to this group. Additionally, the Coordinator must hold semi-annual public meetings with stakeholders and submit a report to Congress within two years detailing program effectiveness and recommendations for further support.
The READ Act aims to improve student literacy by directing federal funding toward evidence-based reading instruction known as the science of reading, which explicitly teaches phonics and decoding while prohibiting the use of the three-cueing model. Under this bill, the U.S. Department of Education would distribute grants to states, with a specific focus on those performing in the lowest tier of reading assessments, to implement statewide policies, update teacher training standards, and provide universal early literacy screenings for all students before third grade. The legislation also requires schools to notify parents when a student is identified as at risk for reading difficulties and mandates that these notifications be provided in the family's primary language. Additionally, the act allocates funds to support high-quality instructional materials, literacy coaching for teachers, and interventions like tutoring for struggling readers, while ensuring that federal money supplements rather than replaces local education spending.
This legislation directs the United States Postal Service to create unique ZIP Codes for 75 specific communities located across multiple states. The bill requires the Postal Service to finalize these designations within one year after the law is enacted. Communities affected by this requirement include towns and neighborhoods in states such as California, Colorado, Florida, and others. Ultimately, the measure ensures that each listed location has its own distinct postal code for mailing purposes.
This bill expands access to workers' compensation for injured federal employees by adding nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the list of healthcare providers eligible to treat them under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. It amends the law to define "other eligible provider" as these professionals practicing within their state-authorized scope, replacing outdated references to "physician" with "physician or other eligible provider" throughout the relevant sections. The changes ensure injured federal workers can receive care from these providers without requiring a physician referral, streamlining access to treatment. The Secretary of Labor must finalize implementing regulations within six months of the bill's enactment.
