Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Colleagues, Demand VA Improves Care for Victims of Sexual Assault
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), led by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT), joined her colleagues to send a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) urging the Department to take immediate steps to improve the readiness of VA facilities and staff to address the needs of veterans after experiencing a sexual assault. The letter comes as a result of a concerning VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report finding significant shortfalls in care provided by VA to veterans who seek care after sexual assault. The letter was also signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Angus King (I-ME), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ). “We urge the Department to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in the [OIG] report and take a more proactive stance towards preparing facilities, both emergent and non-emergent, and staff for how to respond to encounters related to sexual assault,” wrote the Senators to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Despite the low volume of emergent acute sexual assault victims presenting in VA emergency departments and urgent care centers, we expect the Department to ensure our veterans receive the best possible health care and services, either onsite or via a warm handoff to a community provider.” The Senators highlighted VA’s “unacceptable” shortfalls in providing
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce Federal Grant to Build New Child Care Facility in Ely
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $1,200,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant to remodel an existing building into a child care facility. The newly renovated facility will house the Ely Area Community Foundation Happy Days Childcare Inc. and provide residents with expanded child care services. “Finding child care is a challenge for far too many parents,” said Klobuchar. “We secured this significant federal grant to expand child care services and give parents in Ely more options.” “Access to affordable child care is essential, both for the safe and healthy development of our kids, and because it allows parents the freedom to pursue their careers and contribute to the economy,” said Smith. “This investment in Ely that I helped secure will create a new child care facility that will help hundreds of families get much needed child care services.” Senators Klobuchar and Smith are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which oversees the USDA. This federal funding was secured through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Program grants can be used by communities across the country to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community in a primarily rural area, such as health care facilities, public safety services, educational services, and more. ###
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Democratic Senate Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Expand Child Care Options for Workers and Families, Provide Guidance for Providers During Coronavirus Pandemic
WASHINGTON, D.C. [03/31/20]—Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—along with 20 of their Democratic Senate colleagues—urged the Office of Child Care within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take additional steps to expand child care options for health care workers and others on the frontlines responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The senators also advocated for providers by urging the Office of Child Care to provide critical guidance so centers that remain open know how to take appropriate action to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19, and to share details of how the emergency funding
Klobuchar, Smith, Stauber Announce $4.5 million Sediment Cleanup in the St. Louis River Area of Concern in Duluth, Minnesota
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and Representative Pete Stauber (MN-08) announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed a $4.5 million agreement to remediate contaminated sediment in the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) on Lake Superior. The St. Louis River AOC is one of 43 toxic hotspots identified by the United States and Canada in the Great Lakes basin, and is the second largest AOC in the United States. EPA and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will fund the work through a Great Lakes Legacy Act cost-sharing partnership. “The Great Lakes are a
As Farm Prices Slump Due to Coronavirus, U.S. Senators Klobuchar, Smith Announce USDA Crop Insurance Flexibilities to Support Producers
WASHINGTON, D.C. [03/30/20]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee—said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) is providing flexibilities to support producers who are facing slumping commodity prices and a possible labor shortage due to COVID-19. These accommodations include additional time and deferring interest on premium and other payments, extending the date for production reports, and enabling producers to send notifications and reports electronically. “Minnesotans across the state are facing economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic and that includes our farmers,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “As the backbone of our state’s economy, farmers need our support during periods
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Legislation to Prevent Social Isolation Among Seniors and Improve Care for Tribal Elders Becomes Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. [03/27/20]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s (D-Minn.) measures to address the negative mental and physical health effects—and the economic consequences—of social isolation among seniors, as well as efforts to strengthen grants for Tribal organizations to provide home and community-based services, were signed into law by the President this week as part of the Older Americans Act reauthorization. The legislation signed into law includes provisions from Sen. Smith’s Older Americans Social Isolation and Loneliness Prevention Act, and from Sen. Smith’s bipartisan Strengthening Services for Native Elders Act with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Sen. Smith says that COVID-19 isolation and social distancing could take a serious toll on Americans’
English