U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on July 18 introduced a bipartisan bill to waive certain fees for United States military veterans and their spouses applying for the Export Working Capital, International Trade, and Export Express small business loan programs. Sen. Read more…
The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 16 advanced a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) to improve healthcare services for America’s military veterans. “We owe it to our veterans to provide them the Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), one of the leaders of a bipartisan bill to permanently end the Cadillac Tax that’s set to be imposed on certain health insurance plans, seeks swift U.S. Senate action on the bill following last week’s Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) recently introduced bipartisan legislation to modify the transition period between care and services provided under both the Veterans Choice Program and the Veterans Community Care Program. “The men and women who wore the uniform of Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) wants to open up interstate commerce for state-inspected meat and poultry. Sen. Rounds on June 5 introduced the bipartisan New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act, S. 1720, with five cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Read more…
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) on May 22 cosponsored a bipartisan bill to guarantee paid maternity leave for the roughly 150,000 women serving in U.S. National Guard and other reservist positions. “This bipartisan, sensible legislation would support new mothers in Read more…
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) thinks that anyone who murders or targets a local public safety officer should be prepared to face the death penalty. Sen. Tillis on May 16 introduced the Thin Blue Line Act, S. 1508, with bill Read more…
On the heels of U.S. House approval this week of a bipartisan measure to extend healthcare to U.S. Navy veterans who served on active duty and were exposed to toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) Read more…
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) is cosponsoring the bipartisan, bicameral Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act, which would update federal trucking regulations. “This bipartisan legislation provides a long-term solution that will give livestock haulers flexibility to get safely to their Read more…
A final rule from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) could negatively interfere with state and local authorities over distribution utilities, said U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and 22 of his colleagues last week. “We write to express our concerns Read more…
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) led nine of her colleagues in requesting improved advanced communications be made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers so that local communities in flood zones might be better prepared for disasters. “In our discussions Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds introduced a bipartisan bill to help federal workers by establishing family and medical leave banks to provide paid leave for Department of Defense (DOD) employees. The legislation, S. 1131, to expand the department’s leave bank was Read more…
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and a bipartisan group of senators is urging U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide assistance for livestock producers who suffered devastating losses earlier this year during severe weather events across the Rocky Mountains, the Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on March 25 introduced bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a body that he says threatens rural VA hospitals around the Read more…
Gun silencers would be removed from the federal definition of a firearm making them easier to buy and transfer under legislation introduced on March 14 by more than a dozen Republican members of the U.S. Senate. “The bill we are Read more…
U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) this week welcomed a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow the year-round sale of gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol (E15). “Year-round sales of E15 Read more…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced bipartisan legislation that includes provisions to indefinitely delay a federal electronic logging device (ELD) mandate that has burdened his home-state ranching constituents. “Montana’s ranchers and livestock haulers drive Montana’s economy,” Sen. Daines said on Read more…
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) led 138 members of Congress in urging the Trump administration to release the almost 70,000 already-authorized H-2B visas that would permit temporary, non-immigrant workers into the United States to fill critical Read more…
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is on a legislative mission to lower the prices that Americans pay for their prescription drugs and during this congressional session already has introduced four bills toward that realizing that goal. “I’m working with lawmakers Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on Feb. 14 sponsored legislation that would authorize an independent outside audit of the Indian Health Service (IHS), a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that’s responsible for providing Read more…
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) last week cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would get America’s employers involved in helping their workers pay off student loan debt. The Employer Participation in Repayment Act, S. 460, would permit employers to contribute up Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on Feb. 12 introduced bipartisan legislation that would support American employers in attracting and retaining qualified employees by permitting them to help pay off a worker’s federal student loan debt. “With the cost of education Read more…
Legislation cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) to improve defense and security assistance provisions in the Middle East on Feb. 5 received U.S. Senate approval, 77-23. “We have no stronger ally in the Middle East than the state of Read more…
Dozens of Republican senators signed on to support the reintroduced Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2019. S. 92, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), would increase accountability and transparency in the federal regulatory Read more…
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Jan. 8 reintroduced the WALL Act, which would authorize $25 billion for the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico. “The WALL Act will provide full Read more…
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and 43 other Republican members of Congress made a bicameral plea to President Donald Trump requesting that he restart and hasten construction of the $8 billion Keystone XL project, a proposed 1,180 mile-long crude oil Read more…
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and a bipartisan group of 24 other senators urged U.S. Senate leadership to include at least a one-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program in any end-of-year legislative package. In response to declining Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) want to ensure the Hot Springs Veterans Affairs (VA) facility in South Dakota remains open and operational and have invited VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to tour the hospital and Read more…
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) led a bipartisan group of colleagues in urging a federal response to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), an infectious neurodegenerative disease confirmed to have stricken deer, elk and moose in 25 states and four Canadian provinces. Read more…
A dozen Republican senators led by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) last week requested that the U.S. Treasury Department improve protections for America’s community banks via tax relief provided in federal laws. The lawmakers have requested that the final rule Read more…
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) immediately shore up the budget for the Universal Service Fund (USF) High Cost program so that their constituents in rural and urban Read more…
Republican members on the Senate Western Caucus urged 2018 Farm Bill conferees to ensure their bill’s forest management reforms address the devastating wildfires that continue to ravage the western U.S. “Wildfires have consumed more than six million acres thus far Read more…
Quick, robust enforcement by the U.S. Treasury Department is crucial for the Trump administration’s so-called maximum pressure strategy to succeed against terrorist-financiers like Iran, according to U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and more than a dozen Republican Senate colleagues. The Read more…
A newly introduced bipartisan, bicameral bill from U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) aims to spur the development of new and advanced construction materials to improve America’s transportation and water infrastructure systems. “I strongly support Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) led several Republican colleagues in urging the conferees of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2019 to fund a snowpack and soil moisture monitoring system to mitigate future flooding along Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), a member of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, has introduced bipartisan legislation that would facilitate liquidity in options markets by requesting bank regulators move toward a newer, internationally accepted, risk-sensitive accounting Read more…
U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) led a 14-member Ohio congressional delegation in bipartisan support of the state’s recent applications seeking federal funding for statewide youth violence prevention programming. “Every year, there are thousands of acts of youth violence in our Read more…
U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) want the president to prioritize the nation’s agricultural exports during negotiations with global trade partners in order to stabilize the struggling industry. Recent market uncertainty Read more…
America’s military veterans would receive their yearly increased disability benefits under bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and every other member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Committee. “We made a promise to the men and Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on June 14 introduced a bipartisan proposal to reform regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that require large bank holding companies to prepare and submit ‘living wills’ to federal banking Read more…
Seeking to improve recruiting and retention efforts in the nation’s government-funded tribal schools, U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem and U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, each Republicans from South Dakota, have introduced bicameral legislation that would provide educators with federal Read more…
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has co-sponsored a bipartisan, bicameral bill to update federal law supporting America’s child abuse victims. The Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018, S. 2961 and H.R. 5955, would reauthorize the Victims Read more…
U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) commended the president’s signing into law on May 25 of their Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act. “After years of work, I am truly grateful to secure a Read more…
U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR), Majority Whip on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), chairman of the bipartisan House Automotive Caucus, both gave President Donald Trump a thumbs up for repealing another Obama-era rule. Read more…
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Kristi Noem (R-SD) commended the U.S. Air Force for selecting Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) in South Dakota as one of three bomber bases to house the nation’s first B-21 Raider Bombers. The B-21 Read more…
U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) has taken a commanding lead in calling for full funding of the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 International Affairs Budget, which finances strategic diplomatic and development tools critical to protecting national security, growing the economy Read more…
U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) led a bipartisan effort to give Americans more fuel choices beginning this summer. On the heels Read more…
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently led congressional efforts to prevent the U.S. National Guard from cutting the Military Funeral Honors (MFH) program and coordinator positions in eight states, highlighting the importance of military funeral Read more…
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) aims to ensure American military veterans receive continued access to quality health care in their local communities. Toward that goal, Sen. Rounds on April 4 requested that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) review Read more…
Bipartisan, bicameral legislation led by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and a group of Republican congressional members to address an estimated $11.6 billion in maintenance backlog costs at America’s national parks has earned support from several more organizations vested Read more…