WASHINGTON, June 16 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news: Chairman Jon Tester yesterday led a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing where he pressed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials on delivering quality and timely substance use disorder (SUD) care for veterans, especially those living in rural America. During the first panel, Tester questioned Dr. Erica Scavella, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for  more

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 15, 2023: Chairman Jon Tester yesterday led a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing where he pressed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials on delivering quality and timely substance use disorder (SUD) care for veterans, especially those living in rural America. During the first panel, Tester questioned Dr. Erica Scavella, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services at VA, on  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, issued the following news release: The Office of Congressman Ryan Zinke announces the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) as a grant recipient of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects (NSFLTP) program. The CSKT were awarded $30,567,037 to support the rehabilitation of US93 from Dublin Gulch Road to Gunlock Road which includes construction of a multi-span bridge over Ninep  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, issued the following news release on June 14, 2023: Today, Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke voted for H.J. Res. 44, the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would nullify the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) pistol brace rule the Biden Administration finalized in January 2023. "Biden and radical democrats in the House are taking every action possible to turn law-abiding Montana gun owners into felons - and I won't  more

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release on June 14, 2023: On Flag Day 2023, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senators Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) in introducing a constitutional amendment to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. "The American flag is one of the most visible and enduring symbols of our nation's great history, our struggle for independence and the continued belief in liberty and j  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, issued the following remarks on June 13, 2023: * * * U.S. Senator Steve Daines today delivered the following remarks at the weekly Republican Senate Leadership press conference slamming the Biden administration for continued attacks on made-in-America energy production. Earlier this month, President Biden's Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland quietly issued a mineral withdrawal and prohibition of oil and gas development af  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), top Republican on the Senate National Parks Subcommittee, and Gary Peters' (D-Mich.) bipartisan resolution designating June 2023 as "Great Outdoors Month" passed the United States Senate. "As a fifth-generation Montanan and avid sportsman, spending time in Montana national parks and public lands is just part of our way of life and we want to share that with the rest of   more

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on June 15, 2023: Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Armed Service Committee, announced $3 million from the Department of the Army for West Virginia University's (WVU) program to use acid mine drainage to establish a domestic supply of rare earth minerals and critical minerals instead of relying on foreign sources of rare earth elements. W  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, issued the following letter on June 13, 2023: * * * To: The Honorable Denis McDonough, Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20420 Dear Secretary McDonough We write today to express our continued concern over the final Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rule relating to "Changes in Rates VA Pays for Special Modes of Transportation" (88 Fed. Reg. 10032). The availability of air ambulance trans  more

WASHINGTON, June 17 -- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, issued the following news release on June 16, 2023: Yesterday, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) grilled Principal Deputy Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Nada Culver, on the disastrous Conservation and Landscape Health Rule that aims to lock away wide swaths of grazing land for conservation leases in a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing. "This proposed Conservation and Landscape Health Rule completely contradict  more

GREAT FALLS, Montana, June 17 -- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, issued the following news release on June 16, 2023: Today, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) held a roundtable discussion in Great Falls to lay out his priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill and get input from the community. "I'd like to thank everyone who joined me for today's agriculture roundtable discussion and for sharing their needs for the Farm Bill," said Rep. Rosendale. "Getting Montana's priorities into this year's legi  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, issued the following news release on June 14, 2023: Today, the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity held a hearing on Congressman Matt Rosendale's (MT-02) bill, H.R. 3874, the Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act. Each year thousands of veterans take advantage of the GI Bill and continue their education after serving our country. Under current law, veterans are required to take a full course load to receive  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, issued the following news release on June 14, 2023: Today, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) took to the House floor to thank the countless community leaders who supported the rebuilding effort one year after massive floods destroyed homes, businesses, and property in southern Montana. "The people of Montana have always been stronger than the challenges they face," said Rep. Rosendale. "One year ago, when record-breaking floods devasted t  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, issued the following statement on June 14, 2023: * * * Today, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) released a statement on reports that the IRS and ATF entered and subsequently closed Highwood Creek Outfitters in Great Falls, Montana. "I'm incredibly disturbed by initial reports that the IRS and ATF closed Highwood Creek Outfitters without any warning today," said Rep Rosendale. This is yet another example of the Biden Administration weapon  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news: After sustained efforts from Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, President Joe Biden signed into law his Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation will increase compensation benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affair  more

WASHINGTON, June 17 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Jon Tester introduced his bipartisan Patients Before Middlemen (PBM) Act bill to lower drug costs and prevent massive Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) from price gouging Medicare Part D patients. The Senator's bill would prohibit PBMs from making more money on high-cost drugs than they do from lower-cost drugs to even the playing field for Medicare patients. The bill is also sponsored by Senators  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 13, 2023: One year after the historic flooding along the Yellowstone River, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced that he has secured nearly $1 billion in federal relief funding to help communities and economies recover across southern Montana. "Washington bureaucrats may not have understood just how devastating last year's historic flooding was to families and small businesses across southern Montan  more

WASHINGTON, June 17 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 16, 2023: In his continued effort to expand affordable housing access in Montana, Senator Tester today secured $500,000 for NeighborWorks Montana to combat the affordable housing shortage in Missoula. This funding awarded through the Shared Equity Housing Initiative will be used to support the conversion of a 14-unit property to resident ownership. This funding is awarded to NeighborWorks organizations  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 12, 2023: As part of his continued push to bring high-speed internet to Montana's rural communities, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today secured more than $47 million from his bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for high-speed internet projects across the state. The funding will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in the form of two ReConnect Grants benefitt  more

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 15, 2023: As a direct result of his bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), U.S. Senator Jon Tester today secured $11,756,500 in funding from the National Telecommunications Information Administration's (NTIA) "Middle Mile Program" to install 137 miles of new middle mile broadband fiber in Western Montana and improve high-speed internet access for 42 communities surrounding the Sapphir  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release: After sustained efforts from Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, President Joe Biden signed into law his Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation will increase compensation benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). "At a time when folks are strugglin  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, issued the following news release on June 14, 2023: Today, U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines, with the support of Representatives Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke, and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, introduced the historic Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC) Water Settlement in the United States Senate. The FBIC Water Settlement will ratify the FBIC Water Rights Compact with the State of Montana, provide resources for critical water in  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, issued the following news release: Since introducing the bipartisan "Community and Hydropower Improvement Act" that would streamline the permitting process for hydropower projects, increase tribal engagement and oversight, expedite low impact projects, promote healthy habitat and coordinate federal decision making, Daines has received an outpouring of support from key stakeholders. "In response to the threat posed by looming relicensing, the  more