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A legislative package now before the U.S. Senate has a lot of Montana issues woven in, including possible permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 began debate Thursday, and is expected to face amendments well into next week before a final vote. Also known as S. 2012, it affects energy-efficiency standards in buildings and cars, cybersecurity threats, next-generation nuclear plants, recycling and loan programs. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., spoke for the bill on the Senate floor Thursday after it cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a 18-4 vote. “The Energy

HELENA — When Sen. Steve Daines talked in October to a roomful of people at Fort Harrison about the importance of sharing their military history with others, he spoke from personal experience. Daines had a uncle aboard the SS Dorchester who died when the troop ship was sunk by a German submarine Feb. 3, 1943. The ship is famous for its story of the four chaplains who stood on deck, gave their life jackets to others and held hands praying and singing hymns as the Dorchester went down, killing nearly 700 people. But for some reason, his grandmother never talked

Twenty-one lawmakers have written Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald urging him to let VA doctors discuss and recommend marijuana as a potential medical treatment in states where it is legal. Under a VA policy that expires on Jan. 31, VA doctors are not allowed to discuss medical marijuana with their patients or recommend it as a treatment. Senators and representatives — 19 Democrats and two Republicans, including Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada, a physician and Army Reserve brigadier general who chairs the House Armed Services personnel panel — want a new policy that “removes barriers that would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship” in states

Four Republican senators are calling for cutting foreign aid to Ghana if two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners who were transferred to the African nation escape or return to terrorism. The move marks a renewed effort by security-minded lawmakers to use the power of the purse to effectively pressure other countries considering taking Guantanamo detainees. In the case of Ghana, the country earlier this month accepted two detainees from Guantanamo Bay, part of the Obama administration’s latest wave of transfers out of the prison camp. But the senators, in a letter Wednesday to key committee leaders, warned that Ghana may be

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senate and House members sent a letter Wednesday urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to let its doctors discuss and recommend medical marijuana as a treatment in states where it is legal. The letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald comes four days before the expiration of a current directive that prohibits VA physicians from recommending the plant for medicinal purposes.   “According to the current directive, VA providers are prohibited from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a veteran’s participation in a state-sanctioned marijuana program,” the letter reads in part. “This policy

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has recognized Blake Wombold of Heart Butte, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, as his “Montanan Of The Week.” Wombold earned the honor for his contribution of new shoes for the Heart Butte High School boys basketball team. This marks the second year that Blake has donated new shoes to Heart Butte’s basketball team.  A press release from Daines’ office says that while growing up, Blake witnessed the sacrifices his mother, a teacher at Heart Butte School, made to provide for him and he wanted to be able to help the community that