Press Releases

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, announced the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) awarded North Dakota more than $3.1 million for abandoned coal mine reclamation projects. The funding for this Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation grant was increased in the Bipartisan... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement on North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley filing suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cancellation of quarterly oil and gas lease sales without notice or public input.  “Attorney General Wrigley is right to sue the Biden Administration for its illegal suspension 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 the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded Watford City $100,000 for an advanced metering infrastructure project. Among other initiatives, these resources will support the installation of a telemetry base station, help modernize existing municipal water meters, and streamline the exchange of water loss and usage data... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download photos.*** BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committees, helped welcome home members of the North Dakota National Guard 957th Engineer Company at a ceremony recognizing their yearlong mission at the southwest border. “Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary deeds. To me, this is the definition of our North Dakota National Guard. Their excellence can be characterized by a... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Yahoo Finance to discuss a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, returning to regular order legislating, and bipartisan opportunities in the new Congress. Excerpts and full video are below. On Republican House Majority in the 118th Congress: “I think what’s happening is a number of [House Republicans] have never served in the majority. They've only been in... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – 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 hearing on “Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service” in April, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific submitted service... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined bipartisan colleagues in commenting on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed rule to prohibit employers from imposing non-compete clauses on employees.  “Restrictive non-compete agreements suppress economic growth, discourage innovation, and are barriers to market entry for entrepreneurs. Non-competes are neither pro-business nor pro-worker, and Americans deserve flexibility to freely pursue their careers. This... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss potential permitting reform legislation and government spending in the new Congress. Excerpts and full video are below. On Senate Permitting Reform Legislation: “[There’s a] pretty good opportunity to talk about a transaction of some sort between [Senators] Manchin and Capito’s bills. In there, I do think there's still a... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Education awarded a total of $4,866,137 to North Dakota universities and K-12 schools: $2,320,788 to West Fargo Public Schools $1,200,000 to University of Mary $889,991 to Minot State University $455,358 to the Dickinson Public School District These grants are funded by two Department of Education programs. The Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Program (University of Mary, Minot State... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the bipartisan Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes (RESPECT) Act he co-sponsored with Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) was signed into law.  The RESPECT Act strikes 11 outdated federal laws that discriminated against Native Americans, including ones that stripped children from their families for the purpose of placing them in “Indian reform schools,” such as the... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – 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 hearing on “Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service” in April, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific submitted service... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) new final Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition: “The regulatory ping pong of WOTUS regulations will seemingly never end. Establishing a new WOTUS definition before the Supreme Court has ruled on Sackett v. EPA only adds to the... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Jon Tester (D-MT) in sending a letter to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, urging her to include resources for properly staffing and securing the northern border with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 President’s Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The senators, who represent states along the U.S.-Canada border, highlighted priorities like... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced the Federal Reserve Accountability Act to address left-leaning political activism and ensure greater geographic and professional diversity within the Federal Reserve System (Fed). “Although their dual mandate is clear cut, the Federal Reserve System has recently shifted its focus... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) shared a Christmas video message: “I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I love being around my children and my grandchildren, especially when they’re opening their presents. I love putting up the tree and hanging the decorations and the lights on the house—both inside and outside. Even blowing snow invigorates me. And of course, there’s the food.... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) in efforts to stop the Department of Defense (DoD) from imposing a new environmental rule on federal contractors, both large and small, that would drive up costs for our national defense. They were joined by all Republican senators in pressing for DoD to drop the newly proposed rule requiring burdensome greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting. Additionally, they... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – 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 hearing on “Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service” in April, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific submitted... 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 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $7,555,000 to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program. The DWSRF supports a number of North Dakota water initiatives, including projects to address emerging contaminants in drinking... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chairman of the EPW Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, to establish a Western Water Cooperative Committee. The Western Water Cooperative Committee will ensure the U.S. Army Corps... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Budget Committee, joined Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. Excerpts and full video are below. On the $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill: “None of these things in a 4,155 page bill are on their own. They’re not siloed. It’s one giant bill. Thus the word omnibus. [It] is why the transparency of the process... CONTINUE READING