Daines Honors Montanan of the Week: Bill Ausmus of Hardin
U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today recognized William “Bill” Ausmus of Hardin, a World War II Army veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this month. Daines’ recognition in the Congressional Record is available here. Through his “Montanan of the Week” initiative, Daines each week will highlight a Montanan by submitting a statement of recognition in the official Congressional Record, the document that reflects the official proceedings of Congress. Daines welcomes anyone to nominate fellow Montanans for Daines’ “Montanan of the Week” program by calling Daines’ office at 202-224-2651 or by filling out the contact form on Daines’ website: http://www.daines.senate.gov/connect/email-steve
MGT’s Senate sponsors push committee to act
The Senate backers of the $500 million Modernizing Government Technology Act are urging a key committee to take action on the bill. The MGT Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote and which figured into the IT section of the Trump administration’s budget, is currently awaiting action in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), both on the Appropriations committee, sent a letter May 24 to the chairman and ranking member of HSGAC, urging them to markup the MGT Act and forward it for consideration by
Lawmakers mark Jewish heritage month with award celebration
Congress members from both parties participated in a celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month taking place in the Capitol. The event Wednesday included remarks by Sen. Sherrod Brown; D-Ohio; Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.; Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y.; Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, D-Mass.; Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill.; as well as the congresswoman who in her first term authored the 2006 law creating Jewish American Heritage month, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. The
Department of Education Will Reconsider Upward Bound Grant Applications
The U.S. Department of Education will now reconsider the University of Montana’s grant application for a low-income college prep program. UM’s application for Upward Bound requested just under $2 million to fund the program for 75 students from this year through 2022. But it was rejected because of a technicality; one page was single-spaced, instead of double-spaced. That caught the attention of Montana’s senior senator, Jon Tester: “It was disbelief. I mean, really – government at its worst,” Tester said. Seventy-seven applications from other universities were rejected for similar technicalities. The move drew bipartisan criticism. Republican Senator Steve Daines signed a
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will reconsider Upward Bound grant applications
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will reconsider the University of Montana’s application for its Upward Bound grant — after initially rejecting it and dozens of other colleges’ applications based on minor formatting errors. UM corrected the error and resubmitted its application. In testimony Wednesday to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, the secretary said an additional $50 million appropriation “materially changed our available options.” “We are going to use those funds, the $50 million, to reconsider those applications that were not considered viable because of the formatting errors. So that is going to be
Daines, Tester Urge Support for Whitefish Lake Watershed Project
U.S. SENATE —U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester urged support and continued funding for the Whitefish Lake Watershed Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Project. In a letter to Jim Kurth, the Acting Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Daines and Tester underscore the importance of the project, “This investment will further help conserve the outdoor way of life in the Whitefish area, protect critical investments in water quality for the City of Whitefish, secure working forests, and protect habitat important to many of Montana’s iconic wildlife species.” The conservation easement on the Weyerhauser property will greatly complement conservation
Daines, Tester react to President Trump’s budget proposal
The White House sent its $4.1 trillion dollar spending plan to Capitol Hill Tuesday. President Donald Trump is looking to balance the budget in 10 years with big spending cuts and faster economic growth. That includes an almost $3.6 trillion dollars in cuts to programs including Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security Disability insurance. “We looked at his budget through the eye of the people who are actually paying the bills,” said Mick Mulvaney, White House budget director. “We are not kicking anybody off of any program who really needs it. We have plenty of money in this country to take
How Democrats Can Hasten Trump’s Departure
Washington can hardly keep up with the unprecedented pace at which Donald Trump’s presidency is cascading out of control. Ironically, the appointment last week of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election may slow White House hemorrhaging, taking pressure off GOP congressional leaders and their weak investigations and temporarily shoring up support for Trump on Capitol Hill. For Democrats and independents concerned about the safety and well-being of the country, however, the priority must be getting Trump out of the White House as quickly as possible. He is simply too great a threat to
Daines Announces $3,244,100 for Montana Community’s Health Centers
U.S. SENATE —U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced $3,244,100.00 in critical funding for Glacier Community Health Center and Cascade City-County Health Department. The funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Great Falls: Cascade City-County Health Department: $1,558,934.00 Cut Bank: Glacier Community Health Center, Inc. $1,685,166.00 “Montana’s community health centers are integral to providing high quality, low cost healthcare close to home,” Daines stated. “Great Falls and Cut Bank will continued to be well-served by these community health centers.” Daines secured funding for Community Health Centers in the bipartisan FY2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education