Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) sponsored the resolution, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan signed on as cosponsors. Maine legislators have introduced the Lobster Day resolution for several years, with the hearty support of New Hampshire’s delegation.

“There are few things better than having a lobster roll at Hampton Beach in the summer,” Hassan said in a statement. “National Lobster Day is a time to celebrate not only lobsters, but also the fishermen and the restaurant workers who help bring them to our plates.”

“I’m proud to support Senator King’s resolution designating National Lobster Day to support our fishermen and their critical role in our state’s economy, history and culture,” Shaheen said in a statement.

The New Hampshire senators took the occasion of the Lobster Day announcement to showcase their fish-loving and fisherman-supporting bona fides.

Hassan’s office noted the senator’s work to get the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Coast Guard to exempt fishing vessels from the federal requirement to wear a mask on public transportation. And Shaheen’s office pointed out the $6 million in CARES Act funds New Hampshire fisheries got last year, and several million dollars in grant funding the senator has helped direct to study the impact of climate change on lobster.

Infrastructure still the hottest topic

The lobster may be feted in Washington, but at home in New Hampshire, the senators are still talking infrastructure.

Among their stops in the state this week, Shaheen visited a water infrastructure project in Berlin, while Hassan hit the coast to hear about coastal resiliency projects, and heard about Claremont’s needs for roads and bridges.

Claremont Mayor Charlene Lovett said in a statement that cities like Claremont need help to maintain their infrastructure, and need infrastructure to grow. Towns and cities will benefit, Lovett said, if the whole country kicks in to pay for infrastructure.

“Our infrastructure needs far outweigh our ability to locally fund them, delaying infrastructure projects critical to Claremont’s economic growth, the public’s health and safety, and community resiliency,” Lovett said in a statement.

Another group spending for Hassan

The 2022 election is still more than a year away, but money and advertisements are already flooding the Senate race.

Groups like Americans for Prosperity, a national libertarian group, are spending to raise questions about Hassan’s votes on the American Rescue Plan stimulus bill and infrastructure. And the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group, has been spending to cheer Hassan’s votes on the same policies.

This week, Majority Forward, a dark-money group affiliated with the Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group, started running ads supporting Hassan and pushing for a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Similar ads will run in Arizona and Nevada.

The group spent to support President Joe Biden’s candidacy last year, and in support of the two Democratic senators in Georgia, according to federal records.

Voting bill passes with Pappas provision

After the House passed a bill this week that would make it harder for states to pass voting restrictions, Rep. Chris Pappas noted that the bill included measures from his Protect the Youth Vote Act.

While most of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act focuses on state measures intended to stymie race-based discrimination in voting, Pappas’ measures offer similar legal remedies for state voting legislation that could keep young people from voting.

“I’m pleased the bill also includes measures I’ve introduced in Congress to safeguard voting rights for young Americans,” Pappas said in a statement. “As we fight to restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act we must also stand against systemic efforts to disenfranchise young voters and pass legislation that will fulfill the promise of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment.”