Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and 24 of their colleagues issued the following joint statement in support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stopping in Taiwan during her diplomatic trip to Asia: “We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have travelled to Taiwan. This travel is consistent with the United... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded the following three grants totaling $4,590,868: $3,230,446 to Mayville State University for Head Start projects;   $1,071,922 to the North Dakota Department of Health for a cooperative agreement under the Hospital Preparedness program; and $288,500 to the University of North Dakota for the Model State-Supported Area Education Centers. The funds for Mayville State... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced a bill to establish a Western Water Cooperative Committee. The Western Water Cooperative Committee would ensure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) flood control projects in Western States are operated consistent with congressional directives and adhere to state water rights and water laws. The committee also establishes a... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced legislation to improve the integrity of our asylum system by deterring illegal immigrants who would attempt to abuse our asylum system. The Asylum Integrity Act would replace the current regulatory definition of “frivolous” with a statutory definition that finds frivolousness where an application has been knowingly filed by the asylum applicant and either:  Includes a fabricated... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today members of his staff will hold mobile office hours in Mott and Hettinger on Tuesday, August 16. “Since it’s not always possible for people to travel to my in-state offices, these mobile office opportunities help bring the services we offer closer to the constituents who need them,” said Senator Cramer. “Having members of my staff in Mott and... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Rural Development awarded Reservation Telephone Cooperative a grant of $18,501,541 to provide access to high-speed internet. The funds will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. This network will connect Dunn, McKenzie, and McLean counties in North Dakota as well as communities in Montana. This project will also serve the Fort Berthold Reservation... 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) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will extend the deadline for agricultural producers to return their pre-filled applications for Phase One of the Emergency Relief Program (ERP). A new deadline will be announced at least 30 days after the last Phase One applications mailings have been sent. USDA also announced multiple program fixes to account for issues North Dakota’s producers have experienced since the program was... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced the U.S. Department of Army awarded a $20 million multiple award contract to four North Dakota companies: Gast Construction Company in Fargo, Incorporated, MDM Construction, LLC in West Fargo, Smithco, Incorporated in Fargo, and T.F. Powers Construction Company in Fargo. The contract supports maintenance, repair, and construction activities at the North Dakota National Guard facilities. CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced legislation to make states eligible to receive excess planes from the Department of Defense (DoD) to increase their wildfire suppression and emergency response capabilities. The Emergency Aircraft Act would also remove the current cap on how many excess planes DoD can transfer to other federal agencies for wildfire suppression purposes. “The Emergency Aircraft Act of 2022 removes arbitrary... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio***WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, issued the following statement on Senate passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022: “Every two years, the Water Resources Development Act offers an opportunity for Congress to provide the Army Corps of Engineers direction to set up... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Asylum Accountability Act, legislation which would significantly sharpen the penalty for those who fail to appear in immigration court by permanently barring absconding illegal immigrants from gaining a benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The surge of crossings at our southern border is driven by illegal immigrants believing they will be able to apply for asylum, abscond from their... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a broad package to clarify and strengthen violent crime laws related to homicide, bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and other offenses. The Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act resolves discrepancies brought on by conflicting court decisions and clarifies congressional intent regarding crimes of violence and their respective penalties. Despite an ongoing crime wave, no Democrats have agreed... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and John Harju, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), discussed North Dakota’s Class VI well primacy, the effectiveness of current and proposed tax credits to reduce carbon emissions, permitting timelines, and net-negative carbon oil production through... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – To further cut off Russia’s revenue and combat Beijing’s continued support for Vladimir Putin, U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced legislation to impose mandatory sanctions on any entity which registers, provides insurance to, or facilitates registration of any vessel engaged in the shipment of Russian oil, petroleum products, or natural gas to the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC). The sanctions would terminate when the President... 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 today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded the following grants totaling $615,575 from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA): $159,000 to the Stanley Airport Authority; $126,575 to the City of Mohall; $110,000 to the Lisbon Municipal Airport Authority; $110,000 to the Washburn Municipal... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced John Harju, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), as a witness at today’s Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing entitled, “Examining the Development of Projects and Implementation of Policies that Support Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Technologies.” In his... CONTINUE READING

U.S.-Canada border ports of entry in North Dakota still operate on reduced pandemic hoursWASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus calling for a return to pre-pandemic hours at the northern border ports of entry. North Dakota ports of entry continue to exercise reduced and restricted operating hours first introduced at the beginning of the pandemic over... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded the following grants totaling $1,403,313 to multiple airports within the state of North Dakota for runway installation, construction, rehabilitation, and assessments:$613,076 to Washburn Municipal Airport;$319,537 to Barnes County Municipal Airport Authority; $191,700 to Northwood Municipal Airport Authority;$105,300 to Lakota Airport Authority; $87,300 to Rugby Municipal Airport Authority;... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Fox Business’ Kudlow to discuss his opposition to the semiconductor legislation on the Senate floor this week. He also highlighted the supply chain and national security implications of the Fufeng group’s purchase of farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base. Excerpts and full video are below.On Opposition to the Semiconductor Legislation:... CONTINUE READING