In The News

SIDNEY, MT – A Montana U.S. Senator is traveling more than 600 miles across Eastern Montana to learn about the different issues communities are facing.  As the general election nears, the United States Senate is in recess, which allows Senator Steve Daines, (R-Mont.) to hit the road. It’s a 13-city tour in just three days, and the mission is simple. “Listening to the concerns of the people here in Eastern Montana,” says Daines. Wednesday, Daines was in Montana’s Sunrise City. He met with multiple law enforcement officials to discuss their needs. Topics ranged from how to combat continuing criminal activity in

WASHINGTON, DC –The Senate voted Wednesday afternoon to override President Obama’s veto of a bill that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia. Senators Jon Tester, Steve Daines and Congressman Ryan Zinke all voted in favor of overriding Obama’s veto of “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.” Lawmakers overrode the veto in a 97-1 vote. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, was the only lawmaker to oppose the override. The House is expected to vote to override the veto within the next day.  This could mark the first time Congress could successfully override a veto from Mr. Obama.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican freshmen have seen enough to know that the way Congress approaches the federal budget is broken. And a prospective fix one of them is unveiling Thursday is nothing short of radical — at least by the standards of the often creaky Senate. Georgia Republican David Perdue is proposing to break down the wall between authorizing and appropriating — a way of doing business that, by design, would upend the 1974 Budget Act. The proposal would merge authorizing committees and appropriations subcommittees, according to a fact sheet provided to Roll Call. For instance, the Health, Education, Labor

U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced Wednesday $1.2 million in funding for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. in Lame Deer to address domestic violence and improve safety for Indian women. “I am committed to ensuring American Indian women have access to the resources they need to feel safe in their communities,” Daines stated. Paula Julian, Policy Specialist National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, said: “We are honored and humbled to continue to serve as the National Indian Resource Center addressing domestic violence and the safety of Native women. We look forward to continuing to work with tribes, tribal coalitions, Native organizations,

Sen. Steve Daines, the only Bobcat in Congress, returned to his alma mater last weekend to participate in homecoming festivities on Saturday, Sept. 24. Daines graduated from MSU in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. After spending 13 years working for Procter & Gamble both domestically and abroad, he returned to Bozeman and worked for his family’s construction business and later as an executive for RightNow Technologies, a company founded by current Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte. He then transitioned from industry to politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and the Senate

A group of Republican senators are at odds with their House counterparts over a 5-decade-old conservation and recreation program. Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines of Montana were part of a recent letter supporting permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in energy reform legislation (E&ENews PM, Sept. 26). Both of them were members of the House during the last Congress and don’t appear shy about opposing House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and his allies, who are pressing to overhaul the LWCF. “It’s all part of the process,” Daines said during a brief interview

The Kootenai Business Park is getting a boost. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines announced on Friday that a $750,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration is being awarded to the 418-acre park, which is located south of Libby town limits. The funds will be used to rehabilitate the existing 3,070-foot rail spur line and connect it to the BNSF main line. Tina Oliphant, executive director of the Lincoln County Port Authority, said that bringing the rail spur online is the group’s top strategic priority. It was shut down 1-1/2 years ago for safety reasons because the curvature of the line

Bataan Death March survivor, artist and educator Ben Steele will be remembered for his heroism and his warm, caring personality. He died Sunday at age 98 with his wife Shirley and daughters Julie Jorgenson and Rosemarie Steele at his side. A memorial service is pending. “Everyone knows his war stories and what he went through as a POW, but it’s his personality, his warm caring personality that made people love him,” Jorgenson said. “His students would come up to me and say, ‘Ben and I have a special bond.’ But he made everyone feel special; every student had that special

Ben Steele, who survived the Bataan Death March during World War II, has died. He was 98. His wife, Shirley Steele, said Ben died at about 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Steele’s book, “Tears in the Darkness – The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath,” chronicled his experience during the war and he became well-known for his art depicting his time as a prisoner of war. A new Billings middle school currently under construction was named in his honor. Steele’s ordeal as a survivor of the Bataan Death March made him a local hero. His sketches that he drew while a prisoner of war also