Press Releases

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines’ bill to improve the health of both Indian and federal forest land recently passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.   This action follows a June 8, 2016 legislative hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “The status quo on federal lands is unacceptable and costing Montanans good paying jobs,” Daines stated. “We must pursue every tool available to make our forested lands healthier and get more Montana logs to our mills.” Click here to watch Daines’ remarks. Click here to download Daines’ remarks.  Daines’ bill, the Tribal Forestry Participation and Protection Act keeps both Indian forest land and

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today stood up for Montanans’ civil liberties and voted against an amendment that gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) increased authority to examine electronic records through a secretive surveillance order without a warrant. “It’s important that we protect the homeland without trampling all over our constitutional rights and blatantly disregarding our civil liberties,” Daines stated. Daines voted against U.S. Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) amendment that was offered to the FY2017 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.  Daines has long worked to protect Americans’ civil liberties and Fourth Amendment rights. Daines is an original co-sponsor

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement after Weyerhaeuser announced it is closing two mills in Columbia Falls:  “This is devastating news to the Columbia Falls community and the hardworking families who relied upon these good-paying jobs. This underscores the importance to urgently pass forest reform legislation to get Montana’s abundance of logs to our mills and keep good-paying jobs in our state. I will not sit idly by and watch Montana jobs disappear and families suffer as a result of frivolous lawsuits by fringe environmentalists and excessive regulations.”   Earlier today, Daines’ bill to improve the health of both

 U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today stressed the importance of severe weather preparedness in a newly created Public Service Announcement (PSA). The locally targeted PSA, recorded in partnership with The Weather Channel television network, is airing on the network throughout the summer.  “Severe weather affects us all,” Daines stated.  “Our first line of defense against severe weather is preparedness. I encourage members of the community to create an emergency plan, practice that plan and always stay alert and weather-ready.” Dave Shull, CEO of The Weather Channel television network, said that “being prepared saves lives when severe weather is approaching. We are grateful

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has allocated $30,285,246 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds to Montana’s rural counties. “These payments are essential for the health and safety of Montana’s rural counties,” Daines stated.  “The PILT program provides critical support for Montana’s rural and forested counties, but long-term certainty and permanent solutions are still needed. That’s why I’ve been pushing multiple efforts forward to reform our forest management policies and maintain a balanced natural resources portfolio to create good-paying jobs.”  Complete information on DOI’s PILT payments, including a county-by-county

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today hailed Judge Scott Skavdahl of the District Court of Wyoming’s ruling to strike down the Obama administration’s regulation on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. “This is great news for Montana made energy and Montana made jobs,” Daines stated. “It’s important that the Obama administration’s over-regulation tyranny comes to an end. Yet another court decision confirms: President Obama can’t make laws with his phone and pen.”   On March 20, 2016, Daines blasted he Department of Interior’s new regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federally owned lands as a direct attack on American jobs and American

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today held a public meeting in Billings to ensure that the Department of Interior (DOI) hears the voices that will be most impacted by their review of the federal coal program.  Today, DOI held a scoping meeting in Seattle, Washington. Washington State contains only 0.26 percent of the nation’s recoverable coal reserves and produces zero. Montana has the nation’s largest estimated recoverable coal reserves. Over 150 Montanans attended Daines’ scoping meeting to make their voices heard.     Click here to download. Click here to watch. “Montanans rely on coal for their livelihoods, so the ability to produce

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and today introduced the bipartisan Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act to protect hard-working Americans’ retirement savings.  As employers have shifted from defined benefit pensions to individualized retirement plans such as 401(k)s, workers have become responsible for tracking, managing, and consolidating multiple retirement accounts as they move from job to job. But moving accounts from job to job is not easy. A 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that many Americans leave their jobs each year without giving their employers directions with what to do with their retirement