Category: News Article

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., will hold a public meeting Tuesday in Billings to ensure that the Department of Interior hears Montana voices regarding review of a federal coal program. The meeting is 11:45 a.m. at Montana State University – Billings, library room 148, 1500 University Drive, Billings. Montana cities are not among the locations selected by the DOI for public meetings on the new coal program, even though the state has more than one-fourth of the nation’s estimated recoverable coal reserves, Daines said. The DOI has public meetings planned during May and June in Casper, Wyo.; Grand Junction, Colo.;

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a bill to exempt small internet service providers from rules included in sweeping net neutrality regulations approved last year. The legislation would exempt providers with 250,000 or fewer subscribers from transparency rules that are part of the regulations, which were approved by the Federal Communications Commission last February A version of the law passed the House without objection in March. More broadly, the rules are meant to protect net neutrality — the idea that all traffic on the web should be treated in the same way. The agency banned internet providers from blocking

Montana’s congressional delegation is split on whether gun control is needed after Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., the worst in U.S. history. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told The Gazette it was past time to stop selling weapons to people on terrorist watch lists, as well as people who have been declared mentally ill by a court of law. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., disagreed, telling Senate colleagues the focus needed to be on radical Islam and ISIS, not the Second Amendment. It was the same focus Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., called for Sunday. Given that Sunday’s gunman, 29-year-old

Sens. Steve Daines and Mark Warner are asking the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services panels to include a provision in the final defense authorization bill that would elevate U.S. Cyber Command to a full, unified command. “At a time when ISIS is rapidly recruiting online and the cyber battlefield is evolving at a rapid rate, the United States needs to ensure cyber warfare is at the top of our priorities,” the duo said in a letter today addressed to Sens. John McCain and Jack Reed and Reps. Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith . The pair originally planned

On Monday, Montana Senator Steve Daines expressed his condolences to the families of those involved in the horrific Orlando shooting on the Senate floor. “My deepest condolences are with the victims and the families of this appalling attack. I am grateful for the law enforcement and first responders who bravely put their lives on the line to save others,” said Sen. Steve Daines. Senator Jon Tester released this statement on Sunday saying in part, “we must come together to put an end to this terrorism, intolerance and senseless violence that is attempting to steal our freedom.”

Sunday morning’s Orlando attack has renewed conversation in the Senate about proposed firearm legislation. Democratic Senators are pushing for a new vote on the “Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act,” which would keep any suspected terrorist from buying firearms in America. This isn’t the first time this legislation has come up. Neither Senator Jon Tester or Senator Steve Daines acted as co-sponsors when the bill was defeated last December, but Senator Tester voted to support it while Senator Daines voted against it.  On Monday, several Democratic Senators from California, New York, Connecticut and Florida revisited the idea and

Earlier this spring, Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines drew loud applause from a crowd of union activists — traditionally a Democratic constituency — with his stinging attack of U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan. “You talk to our unions back in Montana, they sometimes wonder if [EPA] shouldn’t stand for the Employment Prevention Agency,” Daines told the North America’s Building Trades Union at its Washington, D.C., convention. He warned that thousands of “good-paying union” jobs would disappear because of the administration’s efforts to limit carbon emissions from power plants. Only a few days later, Daines was speaking out on the other

The U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act with a 85-13 vote. The bill included a provision from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., requiring that the Department of Defense certify any security shortfalls of the UH-1N helicopter currently used to support nuclear security at missile bases, including Malmstrom Air Force Base. The provision also requires DOD to report to Congress how it will mitigate those shortfalls with outside resources until the acquisition process for new helicopters is complete. The Air Force announced in May that it would use a normal acquisition process to replace the Hueys flown at missile bases.

Ted Williams fondly recalled his older brother Robert, eight years his senior, and riding on the handlebars of Robert’s green bicycle. “I loved him very much but I was jealous of the things he got to do,” said 89-year-old Ted to a crowd of a few dozen friends, family and military members gathered at Bozeman’s American Legion on Friday afternoon. Just prior to speaking, Ted was presented with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, among other accolades, in honor of his brother Robert’s service during World War II. U.S. Army Air Corps Private First Class Robert E. Williams Jr.

Senate Democrats harbor concerns about a bill that would give small businesses an exemption from the Federal Communications Commission’s transparency requirements for three years, but they are standing pat for now. The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously advanced the measure Wednesday in a voice vote, although two Democrats noted their opposition before allowing the bill to pass on a voice vote. The enhanced transparency requirements are part of the commission’s 2015 net neutrality rules. The legislation aims to ease the burden that they place on small internet service providers in rural areas. Supporters argue that these providers might not have the money or resources to hire teams of