Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith

Pharmacy DIR Reform To Reduce Senior Drug Costs Act This bill establishes certain requirements for prescription drug plans and the prices of covered drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Specifically, the bill requires price concessions, payments, and fees that are negotiated with a pharmacy to be included in a drug's negotiated price, excluding incentive payments, and for this price to be provided at the point of sale. Additionally, prescription drug plans must report price concessions or incentive payments that are made after payment for covered drugs at the point of sale, including by contracted intermediaries, to the pharmacy at least annually. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must establish standardized pharmacy performance measures with respect to incentive payments and price concessions; such measures must account for all pharmacy types, including specialty pharmacies, and focus on patient health outcomes and other targeted areas.

Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act This bill prohibits obligating or expending U.S. funds in Gaza unless the President makes certain certifications. Specifically, it prohibits such expenditures unless the President certifies that the funds will not benefit Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, other foreign terrorist organizations, or their members. The bill also prohibits obligating or expending funds in Gaza through any United Nations entity or office unless the President certifies that the entity or office is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel or anti-Semitic ideas or propaganda.

Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2021 This bill allows certain hospitals to receive additional payment under Medicare for full-time equivalent residents who receive training in rural areas. Specifically, hospitals, critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals may elect to receive payment for time spent by a resident in a rural training location if the resident trains for at least eight weeks in the location and the hospital pays the salary and benefits of the resident during this time. Additionally, hospitals may receive payment for all time spent by residents in a residency program in which 50% of all training is in rural locations, regardless of where the training occurs or specialty. Payments are based on the difference between the total amount of eligible payments (as determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and the amount of graduate medical education payments received (if applicable).

This resolution offers the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of Senator David Henry Gambrell and honors his life and legacy.

Bridge Investment Act of 20 21 This bill establishes a bridge investment program to award competitive grants to certain governmental entities for projects that improve (1) the condition of bridges; and (2) the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of people and freight over bridges. Among other things, the bill requires grant awards for large projects (projects with total costs of greater than $100 million) to be at least $50 million, and for any other projects not less than $2.5 million; directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to consider a number of factors in awarding grants, including the extent to which a project demonstrates cost savings by bundling multiple bridge projects; requires DOT to prioritize projects that are located within states for which at least two project applications were submitted in the current fiscal year and an average of two were submitted in prior fiscal years, and fewer than two grants have been awarded for projects within the state; and limits funding for projects that consist solely of culvert replacement or rehabilitation.

This resolution expresses support for the designation of DIPG Awareness Day. DIPG is diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a terminal childhood brain cancer.

National Center for the Advancement of Aviation Act of 202 1 This bill establishes the National Center for the Advancement of Aviation to serve as a national independent forum to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between aviation and aerospace stakeholders to support and promote civil and military aviation and aerospace. The center must perform the following duties support the development of aviation and aerospace education curricula; support the professional development of educators using such curricula; promote aviation and aerospace employment opportunities; support Armed Forces personnel seeking to transition to a career in civil aviation or an aerospace-related field through outreach, training, apprenticeships, or other means; serve as a central repository for publicly available economic data, safety data, and research efforts related to the aviation and aerospace sectors; and serve as a forum, through symposiums, conferences, and other means as appropriate, for cross-disciplinary collaboration among aviation and aerospace stakeholders. Additionally, the center may issue grants to organizations that have experience in, and knowledge of, creating, developing, and delivering or updating (1) high school aviation curricula; or (2) aviation curricula used at institutions of higher education, secondary educations institutions, or by technical training and vocational schools.

Protecting Our Well-being by Expanding Russian Sanctions Act or the POWERS Act This bill expands existing sanctions against foreign persons engaged in certain activities related to the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines, two Russian pipelines that were constructed to supply natural gas to Europe. Currently, these sanctions apply to foreign persons that (1) provided pipe-laying vessels for the construction of either pipeline, (2) facilitated certain transactions for such vessels, (3) provided certain underwriting services or insurance for such vessels, or (4) provided certain services for such vessels or Nord Stream 2. Under this bill, these sanctions must also apply to any foreign person that engaged in any transaction with such sanctioned persons. The bill also reinstates any sanctions that were previously waived with respect to Nord Stream 2 AG (the company established to construct and operate the pipeline) or any of its corporate officers. Such reinstated sanctions may not be waived except by an act of Congress.

Don't Weaponize the IRS Act This bill codifies regulations promulgated by the Trump Administration exempting certain tax-exempt organizations from specified reporting requirements. Specifically the bill increases from $5,000 to $50,000 the gross receipts threshold used to determine the eligibility of tax-exempt organizations for the exemption from certain disclosure and reporting requirements; expands the definition of organization to include tax-exempt charitable organizations and organizations with no significant activities relating to lobbying, political activity, and the operation of a trade or business; exempts from disclosure the names and addresses of contributors to an organization in its annual informational return; and extends exemptions from reporting requirements to political action committees (i.e., 527 organizations).

This resolution affirms U.S. support for Israel's right to peace and security as well as its right to defend itself and its civilians against terror.