To direct the Commandant of the Coast Guard to update the policy of the Coast Guard regarding the use of medication to treat drug overdose, and for other purposes.
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
This bill requires the Coast Guard to provide access to naloxone (a medication to reverse opioid overdoses) at its facilities, track distribution of the medication, and monitor the illegal use of of controlled substances.
The bill directs the Coast Guard to update its policy regarding the use of medication to treat drug overdoses to require naloxone or a similar medication to be made available to members on all Coast Guard installations and in each operational environment.
Further, the Coast Guard must participate in the Department of Defense (DOD) tracking system for naloxone distribution and the illegal use of fentanyl and other controlled substances. (The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 directed DOD to establish the tracking system.) The bill requires the Coast Guard to finalize a memorandum of understanding with DOD to facilitate Coast Guard access to the tracking system.
The bill also specifies that laws that prohibit manufacturing or distributing controlled substances on vessels apply when controlled substances are intentionally or knowingly placed or caused to be placed on board a vessel (e.g., without the crew's knowledge or on board an unmanned vessel).
Further, the bill requires the Coast Guard to brief Congress within two years after the bill's enactment about the use of opioids and overdose medication at Coast Guard facilities by members and personnel. The briefing must describe the Coast Guard's progress in implementing its updated policy, the prevalence and incidence of the illegal use of controlled substances, and its processes to mitigate substance abuse.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 26, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 10, 2025: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Addison McDowell (R-NC) introduced it on March 26, 2025, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 26, 2025, 533 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 457 days ago, on June 10, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers