Latest Releases
Minnesota, North Dakota Delegations Respond to Inspector General’s Audit of Postal Service, Press Postmaster General for Better Service
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) led the entire Minnesota and North Dakota congressional delegations in sending a bipartisan letter pressing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to improve postal services in the Minnesota-North Dakota District. The letter comes after the Postal Service’s Inspector General audited the District and found 130,858 missing or delayed pieces of mail at six post offices over the course of only two days. The lawmakers also requested regular updates from the Postal Service on their progress in implementing these recommendations. “It has long been clear that postal operations in the District are in trouble, and the investigation confirms this,” wrote lawmakers.“We need to ensure that the OIG’s recommendations are fully implemented and actually result in significantly improved mail delivery and services across our states.” Senators Smith and Klobuchar requested the audit of the Minnesota-North Dakota Postal District back in December, as did the entire Minnesota House delegation in January. Senator Hoeven, Senator Cramer, and Congressman Armstrong requested an audit in February. Senators Smith, Hoeven and Klobuchar introduced the bipartisan Postal Delivery Accountability Act, which would address USPS’ failure to accurately track when mail routes do not receive deliveries. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Angie Craig. You can find full text of the letter here or below. Mr. Louis DeJoyPostmaster GeneralUnited States Postal Service 475 L’Enfant Plaza Southwest Washington, DC 20260 Dear Postmaster General DeJoy, We write in response to the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report titled “Minnesota-North Dakota District: Delivery Operations” (24-032-R24). This report contains important findings about postal operations and recommendations to
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on SCOTUS Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) Decision
Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s Decision on Moyle v. United States: “The Supreme Court ruled on process, not on policy. This is a reprieve, not a vindication. While Idaho can resume providing emergency reproductive care, this ruling does nothing to reassure women that their health and wellbeing is protected. “Let’s be clear: President Biden’s work to ensure access to emergency abortion care under EMTALA is not safe under this decision. There are other challenges to EMTALA pending in the ultra-conservative Fifth Circuit — challenges that could come before the Supreme Court soon. “But this chaos is the point. Patients will suffer while these lawsuits move forward. There should be no legal question when medicine is clear: Abortion is health care. Justice Jackson hit the nail on the head with her dissent: ‘While this Court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.’” ###
Following Letter from Klobuchar, Smith, and Craig, USDA Announces Additional Coronavirus Relief Funding for Farmers and Agricultural Businesses
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, and Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer additional aid to agricultural producers and businesses as part of its Pandemic Assistance for Producers Initiative. This announcement follows a letter from the legislators calling on the agency to expedite relief payments to farmers, livestock producers, biofuel processors, and timber harvesters and haulers. “The coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented challenges for the entire agriculture industry and many rural communities across Minnesota,” said Klobuchar. “Agricultural producers and businesses are the
U.S. Senators Smith, Cassidy Lead Bipartisan Push for Senate Health Committee to Hold Hearing on Global Vaccine Distribution
WASHINGTON, D.C. [6/29/21]—U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) are leading a bipartisan group of their colleagues in calling on leaders of the Senate Health Committee—on which they serve—to continue the series of important and productive conversations on COVID-19 by holding a hearing to examine global vaccine production and distribution. “We are at a moment now when expanding worldwide access to vaccines is central to controlling this virus and dangerous variants. The pandemic is not over anywhere, until it is over everywhere, and global herd immunity is achieved,” wrote the senators to Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ranking
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce $60 Million Federal Infrastructure Grant to Improve Highways Surrounding Airport
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $60 million federal grant to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to improve a stretch of the I-494 freeway that goes through Bloomington, Richfield, Edina, and Eden Prairie. This funding is from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The I-494: Airport to Highway 169 Project will alleviate traffic congestion and improve highway safety. It will also preserve bridges, restore pavement, and reduce run-off into the Minnesota River. Key improvements include the creation of MnPASS Express Lanes and a new interchange with a ramp at the I-35W and I-494 intersection.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Leads Subcommittee Hearing on Renewable Energy Growth and Opportunities in Rural America
WASHINGTON, D.C. [6/22/21]—Today U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led her first hearing as Chair of the Senate Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, where energy leaders discussed opportunities for jobs and economic development in rural America that expanding the nation’s use of renewable energy will bring. Sen. Smith was joined by energy leaders from across the country, including three Minnesotans: Mr. Shannon Schlecht, Executive Director of Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Crookston; the Honorable Katie Sieben, Chairwoman of Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in St. Paul; and St. Paul native Ms. Emily Skor, Chief Executive Officer of Growth Energy. Sen. Smith said that today’s testimony will help inform her as infrastructure talks continue. It is important to her that rural voices are
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