Latest Releases
Statement from U.S. Senator Tina Smith on the Supreme Court’s Decision to Strike Down President Trump’s Sweeping Tariffs
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) released the following statement after the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump’s sweeping tariffs in a 6-3 decision: “These tariffs caused an entirely unnecessary and avoidable trade war that hurt a lot of Minnesotans. The President abused his power to make a complete mess of our trade systems, and regular people and small businesses paid the price, and I think the money collected from these illegal tariffs should go back into their pockets,” said Senator Smith. “American producers being hurt by trade cheats deserve serious remedies. Instead, the President wasted nearly a year on his futile effort to impose blanket tariffs, rather than policies that would withstand legal scrutiny. Although the Supreme Court’s decision provides some relief, it won’t amount to much if Republicans continue to subject the American economy to the whiplash of this President’s chaotic trade approach.” ###
Klobuchar, Smith Call on ICE to Allow Access to Legal Counsel
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are calling on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to follow federal law and the Constitution by allowing people in detention to have access to legal counsel. Reports indicate that some of those detained, including at least one U.S. citizen, are being denied their constitutional right to access an attorney. “As you know the right to due process and the right to counsel are foundational constitutional guarantees enshrined in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. ICE and all other federal law enforcement agencies are required to honor these constitutional rights, regardless of a person’s immigration status,” the Senators wrote. “It is critical that ICE have policies and practices in place that ensure agents are complying with the Constitution, federal law, and ICE’s own regulations, including access to counsel.” The full text of the letter is below and can be found here. Dear Acting Director Lyons: We write to express our serious concerns regarding reports that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has denied access to counsel to people detained at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. This includes reports that federal law enforcement personnel denied access to an attorney who represents a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran who was being detained at the facility. In response to attorney demands to see their clients, one ICE agent reportedly said: “[i]f we let you see your clients, we would have to let all the attorneys see their clients, and imagine the chaos.”
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Delivers Floor Speech Remembering Annunciation School Shooting Victims, Pushes for Congress to Pass Gun Safety Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tina Smith delivered a speech on the floor of the United States Senate after the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic School last week. You can watch Sen. Smith’s floor speech here. You can read Sen. Smith’s remarks as delivered below: Mr. President, I stand before this body trying to make sense of the terrible shooting at Annunciation Catholic School just a couple of miles from where Archie and I live in Minneapolis. And I can’t. I can’t make it make sense. You know, I know this neighborhood really well. I’ve lived in and around it for
ICYMI: U.S. Senator Tina Smith Blasts Wrongful Firing of Duluth EPA Scientists by the Trump Administration
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) blasted the news that scientists at the Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory were fired for signing onto a letter expressing concerns over cuts and changes at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they argued would endanger the health and safety of Minnesotans. In a statement to the Duluth News Tribune, Smith decried the firings and expressed pride in the workers who had the guts to sign onto the Declaration of Dissent warning about the impacts of EPA cuts. “How is firing the people who keep Lake Superior and Minnesota’s waters clean and
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Demands Answers from Trump Administration on Actions Purportedly Allowing Sulfide-Ore Copper Mining Near the Boundary Waters
[ST. PAUL, MN] – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) is demanding answers from the Trump Administration regarding its recent announcement about planned executive actions to allow sulfide-ore mining in the Rainy River Watershed, where waters flow into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The only sulfide-ore mine proposed in the area would be owned by Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, a company with a questionable environmental record, and the minerals they intend to mine would be shipped overseas to be processed outside of the United States – most likely to China. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Colleagues Push Administration to Reinstate Duluth EPA Lab Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), joined by 16 of her Senate colleagues, called on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to reinstate workers placed on administrative leave for expressing concern with the agency’s direction under the Trump Administration. Senator Smith is standing up for EPA employees in Duluth, Minnesota. These employees faced disciplinary action for signing a “Declaration of Dissent” about the agency’s leadership. In the letter to Administrator Zeldin, the Senators emphasize that public employees have the right to speak their views on issues that matter to them in their personal lives under the First
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