Press Releases

BISMARCK – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an award of $99,093 through its Small Business Innovation Research program to SafetySpect, Inc., a biotechnology company located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This funding will go towards the development of a device which will establish shelf-life for red meat, allowing management of storage, transportation, and dynamic pricing of food close to expiration. CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a total of $1,501,596 to the Northland Health Partners Community in Turtle Lake, North Dakota. This grant is funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Health Center Cluster grant program, which provides funding to community health centers across the United States. CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined a bipartisan letter led by U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) to Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), condemning the response to Hamas’ widespread sexual violence against women in Israel on October 7, 2023. The senators also called for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into sexual violence committed by Hamas. “As multiple UN Security Council Resolutions affirm, the use... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues in a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, encouraging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to use its Schedule A Shortage Occupation list as a tool to address the workforce shortages our country is facing in critical high-skill industries, including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math occupations (STEM) and professional healthcare occupations. Established in 1965, the Schedule A Shortage Occupation List was created... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – Following rising concerns over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ (ATF) classification review process, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues in introducing the ATF Accountability Act of 2023. Among other provisions, the legislation will establish an appeals process to classification reviews, allowing gun manufacturers to challenge classification decisions they believe to harm businesses or violate the Second Amendment. The existing classification review... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues in a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Vice Chair Michael Barr, and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, expressing concerns over the impacts of proposed capital requirements for mortgage loans. The mortgage capital requirements in the Basel III Endgame proposal would increase borrowing costs and hinder families from achieving homeownership. The senators called on regulators to adopt the Endgame mortgage... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – This week, U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor issued an order stating the federal government will have to face North Dakota's claims at trial for $38 million in emergency response costs after protestors attempted to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project in 2016 and 2017. Judge Traynor again ruled the federal government owed a “duty of care” to North Dakota. North Dakota filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the federal government, seeking damages for... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded a total of $15,888,022.70 in federal funding to Mountrail - Williams Electric Cooperative for electric distribution repairs as a result of a severe winter storm and flooding which caused ice accumulation between April 22 and May 25, 2022. Damages from the storm and flood include utility poles, transformers, crossarms, assemblies, conductors, and associated components. “Last year’s... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development awarded a total of $8,470,000 to the following programs and initiatives:  $6,560,000 to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians to replace and repair the existing wastewater collection system serving a portion of the city of Belcourt, North Dakota $352,000 to remove and replace concrete at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College $352,000 to Turtle Mountain Community College to remove and... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) publicly filed weekly grain backlog status updates as required by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB). A summary of the reporting data specific to North Dakota from the last 10 weeks is below. Following STB’s April 2022 hearing on “Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service,” BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific submitted service recovery plans, which... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $350 million for the development of Project Tundra, one of the world’s largest carbon capture projects located near Center, North Dakota. These funds will be distributed through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s (IIJA) Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program, which supports the development of community-informed integrated carbon capture, transport, and storage projects. “North Dakota is a global leader in the... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in writing a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, calling for the agency to reconsider its August 1, 2023 proposed rule on methane emissions reporting. This proposed rule, more commonly known as “subpart W” of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), excessively increases the tax burden on North Dakota’s energy producers under the... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video and here for audio.*** WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) with a vote of 87 to 13. For 62 years in a row, Congress has prioritized and passed a National Defense Authorization Act, ensuring our troops have the necessary equipment and resources they need to carry out their missions. This year’s bill fully funds nuclear modernization efforts, supports efforts to develop increased... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined his colleagues in sending three letters to President Biden, calling for the enforcement of sanctions on Iranian steel exports and oil sales. The letters were sent weeks after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel. The first letter, led by U.S. Senator Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL), implores the President to target Iran’s steel and metal industries by enforcing all direct sanctions on Iran and... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded a total of $1,620,000 to the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota. This award will allow the Spirit Lake Tribe to develop the engineering and technical studies needed to support a future mitigation project application to benefit the community of St. Michael. CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the bipartisan Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023, reauthorizing the 2019 legislation which dedicated a fund through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to provide teachers and parents with accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to improve awareness and understanding of the Holocaust. The reauthorization of this bill would extend the program through 2030. “The alarming rise of... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, announced a $500,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) Program to the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) established the Corridor ID program to facilitate the development of intercity passenger rail... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded a total of $3,000,000 to North Dakota State University’s (NDSU) Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute to continue operating the Region 8 University Transportation Center (UTC). This funding was made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.  The Center focuses on maintaining the extensive public infrastructure system of Region 8, which encompasses 410,387 miles of public... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) issued the following statement regarding the Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy killed in the line of duty. “Earlier this evening, our 42-year-old son Ian was involved in a police chase which resulted in an accident that killed an officer. Ian suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations. Kris was with Ian when he insisted on going to his brother Ike. Ike died in 2018. Kris took Ian to the Sanford Health... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) released the following statement today after voting on the supplemental funding bill which includes financial aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan as well as provisions aimed at bolstering border security. “The United States has a vested interest in Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan defending their borders, but Democrats and the Biden administration disregard the lawless national security risk at our own. In this year alone, the equivalent of more than... CONTINUE READING