In The News
Havre Daily News: Havre couple honored by Daines
A Havre couple who served in the Montana Army National Guard have been honored by Sen. Steve Daines for "their dedicated service to Montana and the nation." Sgt. Michaela Boushey and SSG Shayne Boushey of Havre will be honored at a Big Hearts under the Big Sky Banquet as the Montanans of the Week. Michaela Boushey served in the Montana Army National Guard for eight years, including four years in the 112th Security and Support Detachment Aviation Unit. Shayne Boushey has completed deployments… Continue Reading
10.31.15
Great Falls Tribune: Chips down in Chester mayoral race
The battle for the mayor of Chester has come down to crunch time. The small burg on Highway 2 has become the epicenter of an epic political battle between Cheetos pitchman Chester Cheetah and incumbent Noel Walston as they vie for the reins of the city with Election Day just around the corner. Neither candidate has been shy about throwing mud the other's way. "What is Chester Cheetah trying to hide, and why is he always wearing sunglasses?" asks one of Walston's campaign ads. "What was he doi… Continue Reading
10.30.15
MTN News: Tester supports fed budget deal; Daines, Zinke vote against it
HELENA - Montana's two senators split their votes early Friday on the federal budget deal that will avoid a government default and partial shutdown and set spending levels into 2017. Democrat Jon Tester, the state's senior senator, voted for the deal, which passed 64-35 just after 3 a.m. eastern time. Republican Steve Daines was among the GOP senators who voted against it. Tester said he's disappointed that budget talks apparently must come to a crisis to get resolved, but that the deal repres… Continue Reading
10.29.15
Cat Country: Daines Honors Passing of WWII Vet And Crow Tribe Member Charles DeCrane
Time has taken most of those who returned from WWII and earlier this week we lost another. Charles DeCrane, a proud member of the Crow Tribe and veteran of World War II, may have passed, but his family and friends will continue to honor his memory for years to come. Steve Daines spoke about Charlie today on the senate floor. He talked of his trip to D.C. with Charlie, whom he had selected to be his special guest at the State Of The Union Address. Charlie most definitely earned respect for his s… Continue Reading
10.29.15
Char-Koosta News: Veteran's stories belong in Library of Congress
One out of every 10 Montanans is a veteran, which makes Montana home to more veterans per capita than almost any other state in the nation. It is one of my greatest honors to serve Montana's veterans in Congress. Every one of these men and women have an incredible story to tell from their service - stories that are also part of our nation's history and our heritage. That's why the Veteran's History Project is so important. My team in Montana is helping to spread awareness of the American Fol… Continue Reading
10.28.15
KULR8: Montana senator pushes for rural broadband
BILLINGS - Today Senator Steve Daines pressed the FCC to close the gap between rural and urban communities and to expand connectivity in rural areas to make broadband service more accessible to all Montanans. Daines pushed the USDA last week for quicker action to provide broadband for thousands of Montanans currently without service. Earlier this year, he worked with the federal government to make sure this issue was a top priority. He is now pushing for bringing connectivity to unserved commu… Continue Reading
10.26.15
Daily Inter Lake: U.S. pushes for new lumber deal
Following the Oct. 12 expiration of a major trade agreement between the United States and Canada, American timber companies are pushing for a new deal that will limit the flow of cheap lumber into the states from their neighbors to the north. The softwood trade agreement was finalized by the two countries in 2006 after decades of trade grievances arising from two starkly different styles of timber harvesting. Prior to 2006, Canadian producers would respond to declining lumber prices by rampi… Continue Reading
10.26.15
NBC Montana: Kalispell receives $10 million TIGER grant
KALISPELL, Mont. - Kalispell received word Monday morning that it received a $10 million transportation grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, nicknamed TIGER grant, will partially fund a $21 million project the city has been planning for the last five years. "This is transformational for the city of Kalispell," said Kalispell City Planner Tom Jentz.The project includes the construction of an industrial rail park at th… Continue Reading
10.23.15
Great Falls Tribune: Montana joins suit against clean air rules
HELENA - Attorney General Tim Fox announced Friday that Montana would join 23 other states in a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's "carbon rule," which reportedly would restructure the way in which electricity is consumed in the United States. He accused the EPA of overstepping its authority. "The new regulations don't bode well for states like Montana, which relies on abundant and inexpensive coal for stable, affordable electricity …" Fox said. According to Fox,… Continue Reading
10.23.15
Great Falls Tribune: Black Eagle man gets Vietnam War medals
HELENA - For Lowell "Elton" Carver, getting his medals wasn't about public pageantry or boasting rights. It was simply because the Vietnam veteran deserved them. On Friday, the 72-year-old Black Eagle resident received three medals from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., at the American Legion Conference at Fort Harrison. When asked how he felt about getting them after nearly 50 years, he offered "Not too bad." Carver, an aviation electronics technician petty officer 3rd class, served in the Navy f… Continue Reading
10.22.15
News Talk KGVO: Sen. Steve Daines Encourages Secure, High-Speed Broadband Connectivity on Tribal Lands
This week Senator Steve Daines spoke with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and Rural Utilities Service asking officials to consider extending broadband services to Montanans that currently don't have service. Daines encouraged legislators to focus on "unserved communities, not just improving speeds for those who already connectivity." "Thanks to the dedication of Montana companies like Triangle Communications, residents of the Rocky Boy and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservatio… Continue Reading
10.21.15
Flathead Beacon: The Rise of the Conservative Conservationist
It's late August in Montana and the North Fork of the Flathead River is running low and slow, snaking through a chalky corridor of wildfire smoke, its steep banks inscribed with the tracks of deer and grizzly bears, wallpapered with a mix of blackened snags and young lodgepole pine, and scored with clusters of radiant fireweed. The smoke blotting the sky overhead hangs in contrast against the transparency of the water below, magnifying the burnished bottom-stones and the shimmering flashes of … Continue Reading
10.15.15
Missoulian: Daines, Zinke, Fox Rally to Stop Missoula Gun Ordinance Requiring Background Checks
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox on Thursday said he disagrees with the Missoula city attorney over the legality of a proposed ordinance requiring background checks for firearms sold or transferred within the city. Fox released his opinion via a one-sentence news release. Two hours later, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke, both Republicans, also released a joint statement urging the city to withdraw the ordinance. While they support local control, they said, the ordinance presented a… Continue Reading
10.15.15
NBC: Gun Ordinance Proposed in Missoula Garners GOP Attention
Missoula's proposed gun ordinance restricting sales hit a possible snag Thursday. The state's attorney general thinks it's unconstitutional.The ordinance aims to require background checks for all private gun sales. There are a few exceptions -- antique firearms, guns sold within a family and for temporary use while hunting.People will have to meet with a federally licensed dealer for the background check and to finalize the deal.Sen. Steve Daines, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Montana Attorney General Ti… Continue Reading
10.13.15
Great Falls Tribune: Tester, Daines and FCC Chairmen Push for More Broadband
With laptops and tablets for all elementary students and the support of local Internet providers, the students at Fairfield Elementary School are fairing pretty well when it comes to Internet accessibility. But as Federal Communications Chairman Tom Wheeler, Montana's senators, school officials and providers discussed Tuesday, only 49 percent of Montana's public schools have access to high-speed Internet. "Fairfield was a school that was an early adopter (of technology) and worked diligently,"… Continue Reading
10.10.15
Great Falls Tribune: Veterans History Project Kicks Off
When Andrew Kim was a 15-year-old boy living in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, he woke up early one morning to go to a friend's house. In the distant skyline he saw a black speck and thought it was odd to see the U.S. Army Air Corps doing maneuvers on a Sunday. The speck got bigger and he realized it was a Japanese fighter. The pilot tipped his wings to Kim and Kim's friends as he passed by. It was Dec. 7, 1941, and the world would never be the same. And nearly four years later, Kim, now serving in th… Continue Reading
10.09.15
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Daines Discusses Intellectual Property, Says He Backs Patent Reform
Local tech entrepreneur-turned-politician U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, meeting with the local business community at the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce on Friday, said he agreed with concerns raised by several people about the need for reform in the U.S. Patent system. "There's this kind of arms race where you have to develop a patent portfolio to protect yourself from the other big guys who have patent portfolios," said Bob Wall, a former engineer with RightNow and Oracle, now with startup IronCore… Continue Reading
10.07.15
FOX: Congress May Lift Ban on U.S. Crude Oil Exports
The United States is the only country that has a ban on exporting crude oil. This Friday the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that seeks to lift the ban on exporting U.S. crude oil. It's a cold war era ban that was originally put in place during oil shortages in the 1970s. Congressman Ryan Zinke is co-sponsoring H.R. 702, and today he held a press conference to discuss the future of Montana's energy economy. Zinke said lifting the ban would create more than 2,400 new jobs, and… Continue Reading
10.07.15
Gazette opinion: Daines’ idea ensures Montana grain exports
Montana grain growers have an important new assurance that they can get their product to market, thanks to the Agricultural Reauthorization Act signed by President Barack Obama on Oct. 1. Included in the legislation is a provision requiring the USDA to continue grain export inspection if state inspectors are not on the job. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., championed this change in the Grain Standards Reauthorization Act to keep grain moving to export. The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Pat Robe… Continue Reading
10.06.15
Fairfield Sun Times: Senator Daines Announces Kick Off of Veterans History Project in Montana
Senator Steve Daines today announced that he will be bringing the American Folklife Center's Veterans History Project (VHP) to Montana to collect and preserve the stories of Montana's wartime veterans in the Library of Congress. Montana veterans who served in the United States military during wartime in any capacity from World War I through the present and are no longer serving, as well as civilians who served in support of a U.S. war effort in a professional capacity, are eligible to particip… Continue Reading
