Author: Alison Perfater

Missoulian: VA policy prohibiting medallions on veterans’ grave markers sparks complaints

Phil Drake Jan 26, 2024 Updated Jan 26, 2024 Sen. Steve Daines is objecting to a federal directive that prohibits medallions on government-issued markers in VA cemeteries, calling it a misguided policy that does “nothing but cause more issues than it fixes.” The Montana Republican, in a Jan. 22 letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, focused on what he said was the removal of medallions honoring World War II veterans who served in the Army’s First Special Service Force, though the rule applies to all branches of the military. “For years, the Montanans who served in the FSSF and

Belgrade News: A foreshadowing and foreboding trip

KAREN E. DAVIS Staff writer Jan 24, 2024 Updated Jan 24, 2024 It was August 2023. Belgrade resident and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana was standing on the border of northern Israel and Lebanon. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were giving him a tour of a tiny piece of the massive underground tunnel system Hezbollah had dug south from Lebanon, under Israel’s northern border. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed militant group and is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, Daines explained. (In a May 18, 2021 article, The Times of Israel estimated this tunnel system to be hundreds of kilometers

KGVO: New Help for Housing Crunch Outside Montana’s Parks

Dennis Bragg Published: January 25, 2024 It’s not just Montana communities in general that are having a difficult time with housing during the current growth spurt. The smaller communities that border Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks are feeling the pressure in another way, attempting to provide enough housing for the employees working in both the parks and the many tourism-related businesses that are a key part of their local economies. There’s progress to report on a solution to the crunch, as word comes this week Congress is greenlighting legislation providing funding and assistance to deal with the problem. “Gateway Bill” was first proposed last year Last summer, the Senate

KBUL: Montana Senator on the Border, the Houthis, Iowa Caucus and More

Aaron Flint Published: January 19, 2024 Montana’s US Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is filling a key role for the 2024 elections- he’s chairman of the effort to retake the Senate Republican majority as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). We talked with Senator Daines about the latest in border security negotiations, the Houthis, the Iowa Caucus Results and more. There’s one other question I thought I could have asked him- but it definitely is putting the cart before the horse. That question? Would he look to become the next Senate Majority Leader if he succeeds in taking back

KMBR: DAINES SAYS CRIME AND DRUGS ARE THE MONTANA’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN 2024 AND THE CARTELS ARE TO BLAME

Tommy O Published: January 9, 2024 We had a chance to talk with Montana Senator Steve Daines earlier today and asked him what he felt were the biggest issues facing Montanans in 2024 and the Senator was quick to answer that crime and drug abuse were easily our biggest problem, blaming the Mexican cartels for it’s availability and resulting crime and addiction in Montana. “I think certainly looking at what’s going on with violent crime and drugs, the violent crime around our state is significantly increasing and that’s tied right to drugs, and that is tied to the Mexican cartels,” Daines told

KTVH: Montana business leaders express concerns over proposed federal rule

By: Jonathon Ambarian Posted at 6:44 PM, Jan 08, 2024  and last updated 8:50 PM, Jan 08, 2024 HELENA — A federal agency has proposed a new rule that would expand which businesses have to be involved with certain labor negotiations. Supporters say it will fix a loophole and protect workers’ rights, but some business leaders in Montana are raising concerns about the impact it could have. The National Labor Relations Board is preparing to implement a new “joint employer rule.” It says companies that can exert control over the terms and conditions of someone’s employment – like wages, schedule, hiring and working conditions –

Daines Gives Biden Admin Reality Check on Financial Burden of Dam Breaching

U.S. Senate – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today insisted President Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) address the financial burden that breaching the lower Snake River dams would have on Montanans. The demand comes after months of the Biden administration attempting to usurp congressional authority and move toward dam breaching. “It is disconcerting to note the proposed agreement is already being celebrated as a ‘roadmap’ for lower Snake River dam breaching […] despite the fact the administration has acknowledged only Congress has the authority to remove federal dams . . . While the analyses of cost implications of breaching the LSRDs have so far

Daines Accuses Biden Administration of Playing Politics with U.S. Energy

Pausing U.S. LNG Export Permitting Panders to Radical Climate Activists at Expense of Working Families U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines, member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivered the following opening statement today at the committee’s hearing examining the administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals. Daines recently joined a letter with his Republican colleagues to President Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urging the administration to stop their shortsighted pause and immediately resume consideration of LNG Export applications. Below is a transcript of Daines’ statement: Watch Daines’ remarks HERE.  “I didn’t think I’d live to see the day where you’d

Daines: Time to Return Management of the Recovered Grizzly Populations to Montana

Accuses Biden Administration of Not Following Science U.S. Senator Steve Daines today issued the following statement after the deadline passed for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) 12-month status review of whether delisting is warranted for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). “The science is clear, GYE and NCDE grizzly bears have more than recovered, and the Biden administration blowing through their deadline to determine if delisting is warranted for these grizzly populations shows their obvious aversion to following the science. These bears have met and exceeded all recovery criteria set by the FWS. Our communities and the

FOX News: Biden hoping border bill will purely help politically, senator says, amid Hamas, French gaffe firestorms

Biden recently confused French President Emmanuel Macron with former President Francois Mitterrand, who died 28 years ago President Biden’s vocal support for the Sinema-Murphy-Lankford border bill is rooted in hopes of solving his political problems, not national security issues, a top Republican claimed. The claim came in the wake of incidents where Biden appeared to commit substantive gaffes or be seeking the proper term in several silent moments, which other observers said simply adds to his political conundrums and fuels questions about his cognitive abilities. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News the issue with current border control