Latest Releases
U.S. SENATOR TINA SMITH ANNOUNCES ABORTION CLINIC DIRECTOR TAMMI KROMENAKER AS STATE OF THE UNION GUEST
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced that Tammi Kromenaker, the Clinic Director of the Red River Women’s Clinic in Moorhead, MN, will be her guest at the President’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7th in Washington, D.C. The Red River Women’s Clinic spent nearly 25 years in Fargo, where it was North Dakota’s sole abortion provider for most of that time. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in 2022, the Republican Governor of North Dakota enacted one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. To continue serving patients in desperate need of care, Kromenaker moved the clinic to the neighboring city of Moorhead in Minnesota, where abortion rights are protected under state law. “When North Dakota banned abortion statewide after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Tammi Kromenaker sprang into action, moving Red River Women’s Clinic across the bridge from Fargo to Moorhead,” said Senator Smith. “Now, Minnesota is an island for abortion care in the Upper Midwest, and thousands of people in the region and across the country count on Red River Women’s Clinic for their health care. Every day, women walk through the doors of RRWC ready to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. And every day that freedom is under assault by the forces dedicated to a national abortion ban. The story of Tammi and her clinic represents the absolute chaos for Americans after the Supreme Court ruling, and her commitment to continuing to provide health care for women in a
U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez Introduce Legislation to Protect Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence from Economic Abuse
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) introduced the Survivor Financial Safety and Inclusion Working Group Act, a bill aimed at increasing support for survivors of intimate partner violence within the financial system. The bill would create an interagency working group comprised of the federal financial regulators and relevant stakeholders, including a representative of historically underserved communities. The working group would be tasked with collecting data on the impacts of economic abuse of survivors carried out through regulated financial institutions. The working group would also provide recommendations on how Congress and federal regulators can help financial institutions improve existing products and services and launch new ones to meet survivors’ financial and safety needs. “It can be impossible for someone trapped in an abusive relationship to escape if they’re unable to land on their feet,” said Senator Smith. “Abusers in intimate partner relationships use financial insecurity as a tool to trap their victims. This legislation will help protect survivors of economic abuse within the financial system and ensure they have a chance at safety, healing, and long-term financial stability.” “Intimate partner violence is a scourge in our society, with over 10 million men and women being physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States every year. Most survivors also report experiencing economic abuse from harm-doers, making it extremely difficult to build the financial security necessary to escape a dangerous situation,” said Congresswoman Velázquez. “It’s clear that financial institutions must do more to reduce economic abuse of survivors. This
Klobuchar, Smith Announce $15 Million for Housing in Minnesota in Response to Coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded Minnesota $15,253,281 in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) to meet the housing needs of Minnesotans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. These funds, which Congress made available through the CARES Act, will help low-income families and Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens, including those experiencing homelessness. The relief funds can be used to operate emergency shelters, provide hotel and motel vouchers and make more emergency shelters available, provide essential services including childcare, education services, employment assistance, outpatient health services, legal services,
U.S. Senator Tina Smith in Senate Floor Speech: “Find Purpose in Making Sure This Moment Leads to Real Progress Towards Justice an
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/11/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) delivered a speech from the Senate floor to honor George Floyd, and to stand up for Minnesotans and the millions of Americans calling for transformative changes to policing and systems that perpetuate injustice. You can access video of Sen. Smith’s remarks—the first in a series of speeches she will give in the coming weeks—here. “We need a new and sustained push for racial justice, not just in law enforcement but in health care, in education, in housing, and in our environmental policy. The people I spoke to when I was home last
Klobuchar and Smith Join Colleagues to Introduce Sweeping Police Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined colleagues in the House and Senate to introduce comprehensive police reform legislation, the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The bill works to end the racist and excessively violent policing in our communities by banning dangerous practices like chokeholds and no-knock warrants, prohibiting racial profiling and requiring transparency about police activities, and reducing the barriers to holding police officers accountable for misconduct and violence. “As George Floyd’s murder and countless other national tragedies have made clear, we must take action to fix a broken system and the Justice
Klobuchar, Smith, Colleagues Call for Investigation into Racially Discriminatory and Violent Policing at Minneapolis Police Department
MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), along with 26 colleagues, are calling on the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct an investigation into the patterns and practices of racially discriminatory and violent policing in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Klobuchar and Smith were joined by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jon Tester (D-MT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI),
English