News

Daines Continues Push to Extend Census Deadline

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined a bipartisan bill that would extend the Census field collection data deadline from September 30th, 2020 to October 31st, 2020. “The 2020 Census will have a lasting impact on Montana; including the distribution of federal resources to the state and even the potential for more representation in Congress,” Daines said. “We must extend the census deadline to October 31st to ensure a proper count is completed in Montana.” To view the bill, click HERE. Much of Montana remains historically undercounted. Ensuring an accurate census count is critical to potentially gaining additional

Daines’ Bipartisan Bill to Protect Montana Veterans from Scam Artists Passes Senate Committee

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that his bipartisan bill protecting Montana veterans and their families from pension poachers passed out of the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  “The fact that scam artists are taking advantage of Montana veterans – our nation’s heroes – and their families is beyond disappointing. It’s reprehensible,” Daines said. “I’m glad to see my bipartisan bill which will protect Montana veterans and their families from pension poachers is one step closer to being signed into law. I will always stand with Montana veterans, and will keep fighting until we get this done.” Daines’ bipartisan bill will now move to the full U.S. Senate for a

Daines: It’s Time to Pass My Bill to Prevent Child Predators from Receiving Government Pensions

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today urged his Senate colleagues to pass his bill that would prevent convicted pedophiles from receiving a federal government pension. Daines introduced his bill in response to Stanley Patrick Weber – a former U.S. Indian Health Services pediatrician and convicted child molester who abused children for decades, including on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. “I write to highlight my legislation, the Denying Pensions to Convicted Child Molesters Act, which has been pending before your committee for more than a year,” Daines wrote. “In that time, perpetrators of some of the most heinous crimes imaginable remain eligible to receive

Daines urges Senate to pass bill preventing pedophiles from receiving pension

Sen. Steve Daines is urging his colleagues in the U.S. Senate to pass a bill that would prevent convicted pedophiles from receiving federal pensions. Daines, R-Mont., introduced the bill, called the Denying Pensions to Convicted Child Molesters Act, in 2019. The bill comes in response to Stanley Patrick Weber, a former Indian Health Services pediatrician and convicted child molester who abused children for decades, including on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Weber is reportedly due $1.8 million in government pension from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps during his prison term, which lawmakers argue does not hold him accountable for his

Daines: We Must Support Amtrak Employees

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today urged Senate Leadership to stop the reduction of services and staff for Amtrak along the Hi-Line. Daines stressed the need to protect jobs and the local economy that Amtrak supports in Montana. “Amtrak’s plan to cut staff by twenty percent, and reduce service on the Empire Builder from daily to tri-weekly on October 19, would decimate rural economies in Montana and leave tens of thousands without daily access to the national transportation network,” Daines wrote. “The Empire Builder provides rural Montanans a safe and reliable mode of transportation to and from major cities, giving them greater access to necessities

Bill to name mountain B-47 Ridge heads to president’s desk

A bill to name a ridge east of the Paradise Valley for an Air Force bomber that crashed there in 1962 is headed to the desk of President Donald Trump. The B-47 Ridge Designation Act passed the U.S. House unanimously on Monday, clearing the final hurdle between it and the president. The bill would dub a ridge off the southwest side of Emigrant Peak as B-47 Ridge and allow the placing of a memorial plaque at the crash site. It’s where four Air Force pilots died in 1962 while flying a training mission through Montana. Debris from the wreck is

Daines’ Forest Management Bill Heard In Subcommittee

Montana Senator Steve Daines on Sept. 16 stumped for legislation he helped draft, saying more forest management would protect communities from wildfires. Republican Daines presented his Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020 to the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. He said the bill, which he wrote with Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, restores forest health and supports timber jobs. “We have been working together on this important piece of legislation that addresses forest management. As we say in Montana, either we’re going to manage our forests or our forests are going to manage us,”

Savanna’s Act unanimously passes US House, awaits President Donald Trump’s signature

Savanna’s Act, a bipartisan bill that addresses the missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic, unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives Monday. The bill unanimously passed the U.S. Senate in March and now awaits President Donald Trump’s signature. Named in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old pregnant Spirit Lake tribal member who was killed in 2017, Savanna’s Act requires federal agencies to update databases and create protocols to guide law enforcement entities. Specifically, the bill requires the U.S. Department of Justice to provide training to law enforcement agencies on data entry, educate the public on the database, help tribes and

Daines Statement on the Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines issued the following statement on the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “Justice Ginsburg lived an incredible life, full of historic accomplishments. She was a courageous fighter in both the courtroom and in her longtime health battles. My deepest condolences to the family, friends and Americans mourning her passing.”