Latest Releases
Klobuchar, Baldwin, Smith, Stauber Urge Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to Support Federal Funding to Rebuild the Blatnik Bridge
WASHINGTON – Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Tina Smith (D-MN) and Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) sent a bipartisan letter urging Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to support Minnesota and Wisconsin’s application for federal funding to rebuild the Blatnik Bridge. “We write to reiterate our strong support of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Department of Transportations’ application for federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” wrote the lawmakers. “By replacing the Blatnik Bridge, the project would exemplify the type of critical infrastructure project that was envisioned by Congress.”“As noted in our previous letter to President Biden in September 2023, the Blatnik Bridge, located over St. Louis Bay on Lake Superior, is one of two bridges that connects the cities of Duluth, Minnesota with Superior, Wisconsin,” the lawmakers continued. “It is an essential economic engine in the region and a key link in the global supply chain.”In September, Klobuchar, Smith, Baldwin, and Representative Stauber sent a letter to President Biden urging him to fund this project. In August, Klobuchar and Smith sent letters to Secretary Buttigieg in support of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)’s applications for funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including the U.S. Department of Transportation National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program and its Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Program. In 2022, Klobuchar, Smith, and Baldwin sent a letter to President Biden urging him to fund this project. President Biden visited the Blatnik Bridge in 2022 with Klobuchar, Baldwin, and Smith, to discuss how the bridge could benefit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In 2021, Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Commerce
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar and Representative Angie Craig Press Postal Service Again for Answers on Mail Carriers’ Missing Paychecks
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (both D – MN), and U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D-MN02) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy seeking answers about an apparent payroll system error that led to an estimated 2,200 rural letter carriers missing paychecks. The incident is the second major payroll problem for the Postal Service since September. The lawmakers sent a similar letter to Postmaster General DeJoy in September seeking answers when approximately 53,000 postal workers missed or received only partial paychecks, and the Postal Service responded that they had solved the issue that caused the error. “In your response, you assured us that the payroll programming error was ‘corrected’ and ‘rigorously tested,’ but just three months later we must address this again with you. Rural letter carriers provide an essential service to small towns and rural places in Minnesota and around the country. They deliver medicine, bills, Social Security checks and other crucial documents and items. They provide for their own families and deserve timely compensation,” the lawmakers said. In their letter, Senators Smith, Klobuchar, and Representative Craig called for DeJoy to take immediate steps to pay affected workers and ensure this problem is not repeated. Smith, Klobuchar and Craig have long worked to improve the reliability of postal service in Minnesota. All 3 lawmakers have introduced bicameral, bipartisan legislation addressing transparency at the Postal Service. Smith and Klobuchar both sent letters to Postmaster DeJoy regarding the disruptions caused by increased Amazon package delivery and decried Postmaster General DeJoy’s response. In September, they pressed USPS for answers about a payroll error that led to 53,000 rural letter carriers missing or receiving only a partial
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),
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