Press Releases

BISMARCK—U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, announced the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the state of North Dakota $7,499,037 through the first round of funds distributed from the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program which was part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). These funds will help modernize the electric grid by reducing the magnitude, duration,... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $3,615,862 to the Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative. These resources will support repairs to its distribution system, which was damaged during a severe winter storm and flooding event from April 22-May 25, 2022. The storm’s impacts on the electric infrastructure left many residents without power, posing an immediate threat to... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Angus King (I-ME), members of the Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC) and Armed Services (SASC), introduced the VET-TEC Authorization Act to permanently continue a successful career program set to expire soon. Since 2017, the Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET-TEC) pilot program has created opportunities for thousands of veterans to secure jobs in the technology sector by providing tuition support at... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (R-PA) led 82 bicameral colleagues on a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging it to withdraw portions of a proposal which would place more stringent vapor emissions requirements on small gasoline bulk plants. The rule would lower compliance thresholds using plants’ theoretical maximum design capacities, rather than their... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded North Dakota organizations $2,075,056 as follows: $1,732,096 to the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services for its Cancer Prevention and Control Program $300,000 to the Coal Country Community Health Center for its Rural Health Network and Development Program $42,960 to North Dakota State University for its veterinary diagnostic laboratory (the Vet-LIRN program... 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... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), introduced the No START Treaty Act, which officially declares Russia to be in material breach of the New START Treaty and proposes America withdraw from the agreement. The legislation also aims to strengthen the United States’ nuclear forces by placing limits on future arms control negotiations.  “Russia has made it clear it will... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** Supervisors didn't do enough, and managers did the wrong thing. WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) at a Banking Committee hearing questioned regulators about the supervisory shortfalls which contributed to recent bank failures. Witnesses included Michael Barr, Federal Reserve (Fed) Vice Chair for Supervision, Martin Gruenberg, Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Michael Hsu, Acting Comptroller... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act. The legislation would enhance independent workers’ access to certain retirement plans and health insurance protections typically offered to full-time employees. It would also establish a $20 million grant fund within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to incentivize states, localities, and nonprofits work with portable... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) questioned Brenda Mallory, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), about transmission siting at this year’s second Environment and Public Works (EPW) hearing on permitting reform. Excerpts and full video are below. Before questioning, the Senator discussed the Biden administration’s illogical approach to energy policy and the regulatory headaches hampering... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Banking Committee, joined Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and seven colleagues in sending Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell a letter to discourage further engagement in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, as they are beyond the Fed’s statutory authority. The senators urged him to shift the focus of the central bank towards matters like the record inflation Americans are experiencing and recent bank... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined two of his Veterans’ Affairs Committee colleagues, Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Angus King (I-ME), in introducing a resolution designating June 10 “Vets Get Outside Day.” The legislation aims to encourage veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges to walk, run, hike, bike, and spend more time... CONTINUE READING

***Click here for photos.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Banking Committee, spoke at the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) Capital Summit and participated in a Q&A session. In his remarks to hundreds of ICBA members from across the nation, he framed the federal policy landscape and discussed the critical role community banks play in preserving the stability and resilience of the financial system. Senator Cramer met with the Independent... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, announced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $38,148,520 to the University of North Dakota’s (UND) Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). This funding will advance the implementation of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies at Rainbow Energy’s Coal Creek Station. Additionally, UND plans to complete site characterization and... CONTINUE READING

***Click here for photos.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, held a hearing on the authorities available to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for addressing water management issues. He invited and introduced two witnesses from North Dakota, Ms. Jennifer Verleger, Chair of the Western States Water Council and North Dakota assistant attorney general, and Dr.... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, penned an op-ed in the Washington Times on flood control and mitigation efforts in North Dakota and the mid- and long-term economic benefits of water infrastructure investments. “For over one hundred years, North Dakotans braced themselves in March and April while praying for a slow, rain-free melt. The memories of the... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), during an Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing, questioned Martha Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and urged the agency to work with the local communities to expeditiously fix the dam at Lake Ilo, which the FWS recently drained again this spring. He also talked about the importance of providing satellite overlay maps of new... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Todd Young (R-IN) reintroduced the Mental Health Excellence in Schools Act, legislation to address the shortage of mental health providers in schools. Specifically, the bill would boost the pipeline of individuals training to become school psychologists, counselors, and social workers by authorizing the U.S. Department of Education to help cover students’ costs at certain graduate programs via partnerships... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in submitting a comment letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona regarding his department’s proposed changes to Title IX. The rulemaking would force schools to allow biological males and females to compete against each other in sports, undoing critical, longstanding safeguards for women’s athletics. “This proposed rule is a monumental setback for the generations of... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act, which would require all executive agencies to return to their pre-pandemic remote work policies. It would also direct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to certify any expanded telework policies will positively affect the agency’s mission, productivity, and operational costs prior to implementation.“Executive... CONTINUE READING