In The News

BILLINGS — Montana U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte has drafted two bills proposing to release almost 690,000 acres (279,000 hectares) of wilderness study areas in Montana. One of Gianforte’s bills echoes Montana Sen. Steve Daines’ bill introduced in the Senate late last year. It proposes to release 449,500 acres (182,000 hectares) of wilderness study areas all on national forest lands. The Billings Gazette reports that Gianforte also authored a separate act to release an additional 240,000 acres (97,000 hectares) of Bureau of Land Management wilderness. Gianforte says the land has been in limbo for as long as 40 years, stuck in

Companies that are victims of cyberattacks increasingly find themselves also targeted by plaintiffs’ lawyers, who bring lawsuits alleging their security measures were negligent. Anthem Inc. last year agreed to pay $115 million to customers affected by an attack believed to have been perpetrated by a foreign government. Computer chip manufacturers have faced dozens of lawsuits based on the mere prospect that consumers will suffer damage from hacking. Such lawsuits are more than a costly nuisance. They paralyze security innovation and expansion. Fortunately Sen. Steve Daines of Montana has introduced a bill that can stem this tide by clarifying that an

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines released the following statement after his bipartisan amendment to promote tribes’ access to national criminal databases passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This amendment, which supports tribes’ participation in the Tribal Access Program (TAP), is part of his greater effort to reduce the number of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered. “We must curb the tragic epidemic of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered and strengthen tribes’ ability to keep their citizens safe,” said Daines. “Sovereignty and security go hand in hand.” The bipartisan

KALISPELL – Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) made a stop at a Kalispell business on Tuesday touting the impact of recently passed tax-cut laws. Best Buy was one of the many big companies that passed some of their tax savings onto employees after cuts were approved. Sen. Daines voted in the bill’s support and helped champion the Senate Tax Cuts and Job Act. The visit is the first stop of a four-day tour for Sen. Daines, who will visit 17 counties across the state. Sen. Daines says that Best Buy’s three Montana locations employ over 200 Montanans, making them a great example of the new tax regulation’s

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines released the following statement after his bipartisan amendment to promote tribes’ access to national criminal databases passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This amendment, which supports tribes’ participation in the Tribal Access Program (TAP), is part of his greater effort to reduce the number of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered. “We must curb the tragic epidemic of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered and strengthen tribes’ ability to keep their citizens safe,” said Daines. “Sovereignty and security go hand in hand.” The bipartisan

A custom-printed sign and line of local dignitaries greeted U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., when he walked into Kalispell’s Best Buy store Tuesday morning. Daines has been touring Montana to tout the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently signed into law. He was joined in Kalispell Tuesday by the city’s mayor, Mark Johnson, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, Rep. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s Kate Lufkin. Best Buy was a fitting stop. On Feb. 4, the electronics retailer joined several other large firms that gave their employees a bonus – in this case, $1,000

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines released the following statement after his bipartisan amendment to promote tribes’ access to national criminal databases passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This amendment, which supports tribes’ participation in the Tribal Access Program (TAP), is part of his greater effort to reduce the number of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered. “We must curb the tragic epidemic of native women and girls who go missing or are murdered and strengthen tribes’ ability to keep their citizens safe,” said Daines. “Sovereignty and security go hand in hand.” The bipartisan

This week, Montana Senator Steve Daines led a coalition of his colleagues to allow tribes’ access to national criminal databases during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “This amendment will help insure that the Department of Justice is using all available resources to promote tribes’ access to national criminal databases, which will help keep native peoples safe,” Daines said. “$3.9 million has been set aside to fund these registries. Since VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) 05, tribes and the Department of Justice have struggled to successfully implement the tribally specific registries, and those funds have sat at

Audience members walked past protesters and security guards Tuesday to hear controversial speaker Mike Adams offer the 10th annual Jeff Cole lecture at the University of Montana. At an event peppered with a handful of disruptions, Adams gave a talk called “The Death of Liberal Bias in Higher Education” to honor the late Wall Street Journal reporter and UM alum. In his talk, Adams reminded people they’ll be offended from time to time, and he said it’s the price of freedom. Liberalism presupposes tolerance, and tolerance presupposes moral judgment, he said. And he said the existence of moral judgment has