Press Releases

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee member, issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing a $569 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan for flood protection efforts in the Fargo-Moorhead community: “Proper flood protection is key to growing the economy and protecting the livelihood of North Dakotans in the Red River Valley. The Water Infrastructure Finance and... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee member, announced today the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management awarded $499,995 to Microbeam Technologies in Grand Forks. The funds will be used for efforts to develop a method for the production of low-temperature sintered carbon building materials. Microbeam Technologies and the University of North Dakota have developed a method for... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today the Office of National Drug Control Policy awarded $125,000 to Altru Health System in the Grand Forks Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.The funds come through Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program to support communities as they mobilize individuals and organizations to prevent youth substance use. CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – At a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on President Biden’s proposed budget for the Air Force this week, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Space Force Chief of Space Operations General John Raymond discussed the status of Space Force’s efforts to stand up a University Partnership Program. The senator began by referencing a recent University of North Dakota (UND) faculty visit to the Air... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – At a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on President Biden’s proposed budget for the Air Force this week, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) voiced concerns to Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Brown about the proposal’s impact on North Dakota’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts. North Dakota is home to ISR platforms such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk in Grand Forks and the MQ-9... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – At a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on President Biden’s proposed budget for the Air Force this week, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) pressed Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Brown on why the budget proposal cuts funding for replacement helicopters needed at Minot Air Force Base.“I have some concerns about the cuts in [Fiscal Year] 2022 funding for the MH-139 [Grey Wolf helicopter]. It’s... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Banking Committee member, announced today he has received the Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America award, which is given by the Chamber of Commerce to members of Congress who support legislation important the nation’s business community. Senator Cramer received this award in 2020 as well.“I am honored to once again receive the Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America award from the Chamber of Commerce,” said Senator... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Banking Committee member, joined Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) in introducing the IRS Customer Service Improvement Act, a bill to require Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to prioritize federal taxpayers over representational work during tax filing season.“The American taxpayer expects federal employees to be using their time on the job to perform the duties they were hired by the country to do,” said Senator Cramer. “At a... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded the following three grants totaling $847,261:$514,253 to North Dakota State University for STEM workforce development;$299,954 to Bismarck State College for an Advanced Tech Education Program; and$33,054 to North Dakota State University for updates to state and local registration lists. CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in introducing the Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act, a bipartisan and bicameral bill to ensure all reserve components and the National Guard are eligible to be buried in state veterans cemeteries as long as their service was terminated under honorable conditions. Currently, only certain service members who... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Armed Services Committee member, and Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) this week reintroduced the Brandon Act, a bipartisan bill designed to protect service members who experience mental health emergencies and allow them to seek help both confidentially and, if necessary, outside of the chain of command. It is named in honor of fallen United States Navy Petty Officer Third Class Brandon... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) delivered remarks before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Public Lands, Forests, & Mining Subcommittee today, where he testified in favor of the Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act, his bipartisan bill with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) to plug and remediate the nation’s orphaned wells. The senator began by highlighting how the recent job losses in the... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senator Mike Crapo in introducing the Hearing Protection Act (HPA), a bill to provide users of firearms better access to hearing protection equipment by reclassifying suppressors to regulate them like regular firearms. Currently regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA), suppressors are subject to additional regulatory burdens.“Anti-gun activists want to use the regulatory process to chip away at law-abiding... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download audio.***WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee, issued the following statement on voting today to confirm Radhika Fox as the Assistant Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator for Water:“As a state with unique terrain in the heart of the Prairie Pothole Region, North Dakota is greatly affected by the EPA’s water regulations, which Mrs. Fox... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $5,935,883.42 to the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDOH).The funds come from through the Disaster Relief Fund as authorized under the Stafford Act and will go toward helping cover the costs of North Dakota’s efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) on a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing concern over a DHS document outlining the Biden Administration’s plans immigration and seeking its immediate release. The blueprint has been given to the New York Times but is not yet available to Congress or the American people.“It is disturbing that the Department of Homeland Security would keep this kind of... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Banking Committee member, announced today the U.S. Department of Treasury awarded $1,826,265 to CommunityWorks North Dakota. These funds are part of a nationwide investment – authorized through supplemental funding provided under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 – to be used to provide community development financial institutions (CDFIs) necessary capital to respond to economic challenges created by the COVID-19... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and John Hoeven (R-ND) and Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) this week urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to assist North Dakota ranchers suffering from drought conditions and requested that USDA allow emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in North Dakota before August 1. While CRP acres in 50 North Dakota counties are currently eligible to be grazed at limited capacity, they are not... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) today highlighted the support they have received from governors for their bipartisan Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act of 2021 to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells.“We are grateful our commonsense proposal is gaining support and hope that momentum continues,” said Senator Cramer. “As thousands of oilfield workers remain unemployed, over 56,000 oil and gas wells have been... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined fellow Senate Banking Committee members on a letter urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Allison Herren Lee to reject any proposal to implement new global warming disclosures.“We do not believe that any further securities regulations to specifically address global warming are necessary or appropriate, and will only serve to further discourage firms from becoming publicly traded, thus denying... CONTINUE READING