Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on Tonight’s Vote on the Federal Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON – Tonight, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) released the following statement after voting against a continuing resolution to fund the federal government: “I will not support this bill that completely fails to help Americans afford their health care. Trump and Republicans more than doubled Americans’ health care premiums, and for 40 days they have refused to lift a finger to do a thing about it. In fact, they’ve made it worse by taking food away from kids. Allowing this to pass is a mistake.”
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on FAA Announcement of Reduced Air Traffic at MSP Airport as a Result of Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) released the following statement following an announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration that air traffic will be reduced by 10% across 40 ‘high-volume’ markets during government shutdown, including at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On average, MSP Airport experiences 750 flights every day, with an estimated average of 60,000 daily departing passengers. “It’s long past time for President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson to act like grown-ups and sit down and talk to us about how to get out of this shutdown so we don’t see impacts like the ones at MSP. Minnesotans are working hard trying to figure out how to afford their lives, especially health insurance. I won’t vote for a bill that hurts Minnesotans and does nothing to make life more affordable,” said Senator Tina Smith. “The only path forward is through negotiating, so air traffic in the skies above Minnesota and the country can keep operating safely and at full capacity and our government can finally open up again.” Senator Smith is a cosponsor of the True Shutdown Fairness Act, to pay all federal workers during the government shutdown, including air traffic controllers. That measure has been blocked by Senate Republicans.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Joins Colleagues in Urging Biden Administration to Address Humanitarian Crisis in Ethiopia
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined her colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden administration regarding the mounting humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia. The letter was led by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and was also signed by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Tim Kaine (D-VA). The Senators urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power to work with partners to ensure continued international humanitarian support for the people of Ethiopia as the country confronts an ongoing humanitarian crisis exacerbated by armed conflict
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar Announce Clean Energy Support for Three Minnesota Tribes
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tina Smith, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (both D-Minn.) announced federal funding to connect Tribal homes to clean electricity, including homes previously not connected to electricity at all. Minnesota Tribes selected for funding include Prairie Island Indian Community, Red Lake Nation and Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. The grants are made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Senators Smith and Klobuchar both supported. “For generations, Native communities have been hurt by underinvestment and underfunding of basic infrastructure. Our transition to a clean energy economy can’t leave Indian Country behind,” said Senator Smith. “This funding gets us closer to ensuring every household in Minnesota,
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Kevin Cramer, John Fetterman and Katie Britt Introduce Legislation to Strengthen Domestic Bus Manufacturing Market
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) led her colleagues Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Katie Britt (R-AL) in introducing bipartisan legislation to cut red tape and reform the domestic bus manufacturing industry by providing more flexibility for local transit systems when purchasing buses. Current U.S. standards impose outdated, 40-year-old payment practices on our bus manufacturers and purchasers, which result in unnecessarily high costs. Many domestic bus manufacturers have gone bankrupt or left the market, despite high demand for new vehicles. The Bus Rolling Stock Modernization Act would help fix this problem.The legislation allows bus manufacturers to apply for advanced payments up to 20%, enabling
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding to Improve Osakis’s Water Treatment Plant and Water Tower
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $497,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant and a $651,000 loan to make improvements to the water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis. Specifically, the funding supports a project that will convert the iron filter to a biological ammonia-removal filter to allow chlorine to better clean the lines during water treatment which will help protect the distribution system. The project will also renovate Osakis’s water tower, which hasn’t been repaired since its construction in 1997. “The water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis
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