In The News
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
10.06.15
KMMS: Daines Calls for Passage of National Defense Authorization Act
Senator Steve Daines took to the Senate floor today to call on the Senate to swiftly pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes critical support for Montana's military missions. Daines also called on Senate Democrats to stop blocking the Department of Defense Appropriations Act and fund the military.… Continue Reading
10.06.15
The Hill: GOP Grills Energy Secretary on Oil Exports
Republican senators repeatedly pushed the secretary of Energy Tuesday to support lifting the ban on oil exports and explain why President Obama does not agree. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told the lawmakers at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that oil exports are not within his purview, but nonetheless defended Obama's opposition to the bills in both chambers to lift the ban. "Do you agree that U.S. crude oil exports would benefit the energy security of our allies and… Continue Reading
09.29.15
Billings Gazette: Congress Responds to Grain Shipping Meltdown with New Law
In response to a grain shipment meltdown that bottled up Montana wheat last summer, Congress passed a law Monday forcing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to intervene when port grain inspections fail. House lawmakers approved the Grain Standards Reauthorization Act on Monday. Tucked away in the bill was an amendment by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., requiring the USDA to intervene immediately when port grain inspections stop, as they did at the United Grain terminal in Washington durin… Continue Reading
09.28.15
KUMV: Mont., ND Delegations Ask to Keep Funding for Yellowstone Bypass Project
Funding for the construction of a fish bypass on the Yellowstone River is up in the air. A judge granted an injunction that stopped construction, and in the meantime, almost $60 million of federal funding is set to expire. Last week, some members of Congress sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that money doesn't disappear. Word traveled fast to the office of Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., when a judge granted an injunction on the Yellowstone River Fish Bypass project. "It didn'… Continue Reading
09.28.15
Newsmax: Sen. Steve Daines on Obamacare: "It's All Turning Out Not to be True"
President Barack Obama lied to the American people about the effects of Obamacare on the price and availability of health care, Sen. Steve Daines tells Newsmax TV. "I would challenge President Obama to jump on Air Force One and come out to Montana and stand up and explain to Montanans why our commissioner - I've got the facts in front of me here - the Montana commissioner of security and insurance published our approved rates for the state of Montana for next year," the "Big Sky Country"… Continue Reading
09.24.15
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Conservation Fund Reauthorization Not Included in Latest Budget Resolution
As Congress battles over a way to keep the federal government open, the future of a popular conservation fund hangs in the balance. The Land and Water Conservation Fund, a pot of federal money used for parks and more, expires Sept. 30, and the latest draft of a budget resolution doesn't include any language reauthorizing the fund, meaning new money won't go into the fund after it expires. Money from the fund has helped build numerous parks and trails around Bozeman. "" framebo… Continue Reading
09.24.15
Helena Independent Record: Daines Pushes for Forest Policy Reforms Tied to Increased Wildfire Spending
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines joined other Republicans Wednesday in calling reforms to wildfire spending inadequate without also including reforms to forest management policy. In a conference call, Daines, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, challenged wildfire funding requests from the Obama administration and calls from some state and federal lawmakers to end the practice of "fire borrowing" without also passing reforms to limit litigation and increase the pace and scale o… Continue Reading
09.23.15
KMMS: Daines Statement on Historic Pope Address
Senator Steve Daines today issued the following statement ahead of Pope Francis' address to a joint meeting of Congress Thursday: "On behalf of all Montanans, it is a privilege to welcome His Holiness Pope Francis to the United States and to our nation's capital," Daines stated. "We should let this day remind us that our great nation was founded with the vision that we are all endowed with certain natural rights and dignity that come from God, not from government. It is the role of gove… Continue Reading
09.22.15
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Tech Industry Ready to Boom
For two days in September, Montana State University's Strand Union Building ballroom was the richest room in the state. The local business world's elite - including RightNow Technologies founder Greg Gianforte, senior Oracle executive Laef Olson and former Intel board chairman Craig Barrett - shared miniature cupcakes with officials ranging from San Francisco British Consul General Priya Guha to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai and NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. The gathering of more … Continue Reading
