Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Colleagues Call on Israeli Ambassador Herzog to Accelerate Aid Delivery and Ensure Safety for Aid Workers
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) in sending a letter to Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, on the imperative of urgently providing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The letter highlights specific steps that Ambassador Herzog and the Israeli government should take to ensure that aid reaches Gaza and to protect aid workers. “Since October 7, nearly 30,000 people have been killed in Israel’s counterattack on Gaza. While many were Hamas terrorists, a significant number were innocent civilians. Further, at least 1.7 million Palestinians have been internally displaced in Gaza. They have need for clean water, food, medical support, and humanitarian aid. Starvation and widespread disease in Gaza are imminent,” wrote the four U.S. Senators. “We believe that the future path to peace, security and stability will be enhanced dramatically by facilitating the delivery of essentials for survival to the Palestinian people whose fate is imperiled,” the Senators conclude. The letter outlines four actions Israel should take to accelerate aid delivery into Gaza and assist the safety of aid workers, including: Text of the letter follows: Dear Ambassador Herzog: We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel October 7, 2023, and hope that all the hostages return home safely. We support Israel’s right and obligation to pursue the Hamas terrorists who planned and carried out the October 7 attack and deem the prospect of Hamas retaining military control of Gaza unacceptable. We also believe, there is an urgent need to provide
Sen. Smith joins Dem Women’s Caucus, House and Senate Democrats, in Demanding Health Insurers Fully Cover Birth Control, As Required by the ACA
Washington, DC — Today, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Chair Lois Frankel (FL-22), Reps. Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Kathy Manning (NC-6), and Judy Chu (CA-28), led over 150 House and Senate Democratic colleagues in urging health insurers to fully comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraception coverage requirement. Specifically, the members urged insurers to adopt a “therapeutic equivalence standard” ensuring coverage—without cost sharing—of every FDA-approved birth control product that does not have a therapeutic equivalent (generic). The letter comes after years of systemic noncompliance by insurance plans, forcing women to pay out of pocket or face administrative red tape to access the birth control that works best for them. “We write to express our concerns that your members are not complying with the Affordable Care Act contraception coverage requirement, and to urge them to consider immediate adoption of the therapeutic equivalence standard outlined by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury on January 22, 2024,” wrote the lawmakers in a letter toAmerica’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)—whose membership includes major health insurers across the country—and UnitedHealth Group. Despite the ACA’s protections, the members outlined how multiple investigations—including by the House Oversight Committee, “have revealed that plans routinely violate the ACA by refusing to cover certain products, imposing administrative hurdles like prior authorizations and step therapy (fail first protocols), and requiring patient cost-sharing.” In response to these violations, the Biden Administration recently released additional guidance, outlining a standard that requires coverage
U.S. Senators Tina Smith & Lisa Murkowski Press Secretary DeVos for Answers About Undercounting American Indian and Alaska Native Students
WASHINGTON, D.C. [02/14/2020]—U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to stop undercounting the number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students in America’s schools. Inaccurately identifying students leads to an incomplete picture of whether or not a school is adequately meeting students’ educational needs. Sens. Smith and Murkowski—both members of the Senate Indian Affairs and Education Committees—said that the Department of Education’s guidance and standards for the collection, aggregation and reporting of student race and ethnicity data are causing a significant undercounting of AIAN students at the federal level—especially for AIAN students from multiethnic or multiracial backgrounds. The Senators say that undercounting
U.S. Senators Smith, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect Children from Human Trafficking
WASHINGTON, D.C. [02/14/20]—According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), every two minutes a child is being victimized for sexual exploitation. Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)—along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—introduced the bipartisan Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act, which would prevent the human trafficking and exploitation of children by providing grants critical for training students, parents, teachers, and school personnel to understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to signs of human trafficking. Specifically, the bill would issue grants to non-profit organizations, schools, and educational agencies to develop and implement age-appropriate and culturally competent curriculum, all while prioritizing geographic
Klobuchar, Smith Help Secure Additional $3 Million of Crucial Funding for Lewis and Clark Regional Water System
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced that $3 million of the additional funding for the nation’s rural water projects—approved by Congress in December—will go the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System. In total the water system will receive $18 million in federal funding for fiscal year 2020. The Senators said that this water system serves communities across southwest Minnesota, northwest Iowa, and southeast South Dakota that don’t currently have a reliable source of clean water. Once completed, the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System will cover a service territory of more than 5,000 square miles and
Minnesota Congressional Delegation Urges FEMA to Provide Additional Financial Assistance and Review Procedures that led to 2019 Spring Storm Damage Underestimation
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), and Representatives Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1), Angie Craig (D-MN-2), Dean Phillips (D-MN-3), Betty McCollum (D-MN-4), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5), Tom Emmer (R-MN-6), Collin Peterson (D-MN-7), and Pete Stauber (R-MN-8) urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide additional financial assistance to the state and undertake a full review of the procedures that it relied on in developing its estimate of the damages from severe weather and widespread flooding in the spring of 2019 in Minnesota. Historic snowfall, ice, and melting snow caused widespread flooding and significant infrastructure damage
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