Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Celebrates 4th Year of Juneteenth Being Recognized as a Federal Holiday
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith celebrated the fourth year that Juneteenth was officially recognized as a federal holiday in the United States. The annual holiday celebrates the date that news of emancipation of slaves in the South reached Galveston, Texas, two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Senator Smith’s bill establishing the holiday was signed into law by President Biden in June, 2021. Smith helped introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution this week for the legislative body to commemorate the date. She celebrated Juneteenth in Minnesota at the Northside Juneteenth Festival Celebration on June 15th. “The end of slavery in this country is a critical milestone in our history, and Juneteenth should be commemorated nationwide as a day of celebration, reflection, and rededication to the cause of racial justice,” said Senator Smith. “I am forever grateful to the generations of activists who made this possible. Commemorating Juneteenth as a federal holiday is an encouraging and deeply meaningful step – but we have much farther to go on the path towards justice. In the meantime, I hope Minnesotans find a time to celebrate the progress we’ve made and recommit themselves to the work that lies ahead.” Senator Smith gave a floor speech following the Senate’s passage of her bill in 2021. You can read her full remarks here or view/download them here. ###
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Minnesota Fire Chiefs Celebrate Passage of the Fire Grants and Safety Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) issued the statements below after the Senate passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act, bipartisan legislation to continue providing federal funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant programs. This bill now goes to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program helps firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources. The SAFER Grants program provides direct funding to fire departments and volunteer firefighter organizations to increase or maintain the number of trained “front line” firefighters and enhance their capacity to comply with staffing, response, and operational standards. Since 2015, fire departments across Minnesota have received over $33 million in SAFER grants and $59 million in AFG grants. “Firefighters put their lives on the line every day to save lives. We need to invest in our local fire departments and ensure that they have the funding they need to hire and train firefighters and purchase life-saving equipment,” said Senator Klobuchar. “That’s why I worked to pass the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act which will support fire departments in Minnesota and across the country.” “Firefighters do one of the most difficult jobs possible, often at the risk of immense personal injury, to keep our families and loved ones safe. This funding is our way of giving them the support they need to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible,” said
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith Say $4 Million Federal Grant Will Deploy More Electric Buses in Metro Area
WASHINGTON, D.C. [7/22/21]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said that Minnesota’s Metro Transit has been awarded $4,190,839 to add more electric buses to its fleet. This U.S. Department of Transportation grant will help purchase buses that have larger battery capacity, allowing them to complete routes more easily. The senators said that the transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Electric busses will reduce the sector’s carbon footprint and improve air quality. “Investments in clean transportation infrastructure serve as down payments on the long-term economic and environmental well-being of our state and
Collins, Smith Announce $200 Million Now Available to Help Loggers, Timber Haulers Facing COVID-19 Economic Crisis
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that $200 million is now available for logging and log hauling businesses that have been seriously impacted by the pandemic. Eligible members of the logging industry can apply on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) website HERE. The funding was provided through the Loggers Relief Act, which Senators Collins and Smith co-authored last year. They secured $200 million for logger relief in the final COVID-19 relief package that was signed into law in December. Following the bill’s passage, the Senators led efforts to push USDA to expedite the distribution of this
U.S. Senator Tina Smith: Too Many Americans Still Being Charged for COVID Tests that Should Be Free
WASHINGTON, D.C. [7/21/21]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said people in Minnesota and across the country are still being charged up to thousands of dollars for COVID-19 tests that – by law – should be free, and she introduced legislation to help ensure Americans aren’t stuck with surprise bills when they get a test. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is a cosponsor of the bill. As part of a COVID-19 relief package in 2020, Congress enacted Sen. Smith’s measure to require public health programs and private insurers to cover the cost of coronavirus tests. The law also protects the uninsured from being charged. Despite
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith: Easing of Canadian Border Restrictions Should Bring Much-Needed Relief for Minnesota’s Northwest Angle
WASHINGTON, D.C. [7/19/21]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said today’s announcement that Canada will ease COVID-19 restrictions at the U.S.-Canada border beginning August 9 will provide long-overdue relief for hard-hit businesses and residents in Minnesota’s Northwest Angle. Sen. Smith said residents and businesses in the Northwest Angle, a Minnesota enclave reachable only by boat—across Lake of the Woods—or by traveling briefly through Canada, have been devastated by the pandemic and the border restrictions that closed the Angle off from the rest of Minnesota and the country. “I’ve repeatedly pushed hard—both diplomatically and through introducing legislation—to get Canada to reconsider its restrictions and
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