Latest Releases
Klobuchar, Smith Secure Significant Federal Funding for Infrastructure Improvements to Highway 11 Along the Rainy River
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded $2,560,000 in federal funding for the City of Loman’s Highway 11 Rainy River Slide Realignment and Resiliency Project. The project addresses two critical slope failures that threaten to close portions of Highway 11 along the Rainy River. The project will realign 1.2 miles of the highway about 150 feet to the west, removing the roadway from the slide areas and completing work to stabilize the slopes. “Highway 11 is a vital part of Northern Minnesota’s transportation system,” said Klobuchar. “With this grant, the City of Loman will make critical infrastructure improvements to make Highway 11 resilient and improve driving conditions.” “Minnesotans deserve to drive on safe, reliable roads,” said Smith. “Highway 11 along the Rainy River in Northern Minnesota is a danger to drivers, and this project will realign the highway on safer, more stable ground to protect and improve drivers’ safety.” The funding was secured through the USDOT Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Grant program. PROTECT provides funding to ensure surface transportation resilience to natural hazards including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters through support of planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides funding for PROTECT. ###
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Celebrates Red Lake, Inc. Trade Mission to India
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, celebrated that Red Lake Nation’s Red Lake, Inc. will be participating in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agribusiness trade mission to New Delhi, India at the end of the month. 47 diverse businesses and organizations will join Under Secretary Alexis M. Taylor on the mission, and Red Lake will be the only representative from a Native or Tribal community. “We need to support all farmers—and that includes making sure we’re advocating for Native farmers who may face unique and challenging barriers to successfully owning and operating farms,” said Sen. Smith. “This trade mission to India will be a great opportunity for Red Lake to cultivate new markets for their agriculture products.” While on the trade mission, participants will engage in targeted meetings and site visits to build new trade linkages, strengthen existing partnerships, observe U.S. products in the marketplace, and discover the latest Indian consumer food trends. Participants will also receive in-depth market briefings from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and industry trade experts. Dating back to 2018, Senator Smith has pushed for Tribal inclusion on USDA trade missions. She joined colleagues from New Mexico, Montana, and North Dakota to send a letter to then Secretary Sonny Perdue to more fully incorporate tribes into these trade missions. ###
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on Officer-Involved Death in Minneapolis
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/26/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement after a video surfaced showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who died soon after. “We are once again traumatized by the tragic scene of a black man pleading for his life at the hands of a white police officer. We cannot look away from this injustice and terrible loss of life. “Mayor Frey and Chief Arradondo have called for an immediate federal investigation. That’s the right thing to do. We must learn exactly what happened, secure justice, and hold the people involved accountable. It is in our power to end this pattern of abuse
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith Blasts Nation’s Top Consumer Protection Official For Pushing New Rule that Guts Needed Payday Lending Protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/20/20] – U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn) has blasted the nation’s top consumer protection official for helping shepherd a new rule that will gut payday lending protections needed by financially-vulnerable Americans, saying the “corrupt” process used to develop the rule was badly tainted by the work of political appointees who manipulated economic data to get rid of current consumer protections. Sen. Smith, in a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen Kraninger this week, called for an immediate halt to the current rulemaking process, and for an investigation into the serious improprieties uncovered about the process. The
U.S. Senators Smith & Shaheen, Ranking Members Wyden & Murray Release Senate Democrats’ Plan to Expand Health Care Coverage & Affordability During COVID-19
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/22/20]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) alongside Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), released a Senate Democratic plan to expand health care coverage and affordability during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a white paper, the senators outline a series of common sense legislative priorities that the Senate should take up immediately, including expanding premium support through subsidies and tax credits, incentivizing Medicaid expansion in hold-out states, and a special open enrollment period. Their proposal also calls for all COVID-19 treatment costs to
U.S. Senators Smith, Klobuchar, Bennet & Murphy to Senate Leaders: Children’s Hospitals and Health Providers Need Urgent Help to Survive Pandemic
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/22/20]—U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told Senate leaders that hospitals serving children cannot continue to sustain the expected $10 billion in losses in the next several months and they pressed Senate leaders to include relief specifically for children’s hospitals and pediatric health care providers in the next COVID-19 relief package. Starting in January, children’s hospitals sustained deep revenue losses when they paused non-urgent and elective surgeries to help free up capacity for COVID-19 cases. At the same time, their costs for additional personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and
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