Press Releases

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) held a hearing today to consider the nomination of Elbridge Colby to be the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, a key position responsible for shaping U.S. defense strategy and guiding the Pentagon's policy priorities. During the hearing, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) questioned Colby on the importance of modernizing the nation’s nuclear triad and deterrence, and... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and John Hoeven (R-ND), and U.S. Representative Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), introduced bicameral legislation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to rename the Casselton post office after hometown hero Commander Delbert Austin Olson. Located at 840 Front Street, the post office would be designated as the Commander Delbert Austin Olson Post Office. Commander Olson served honorably in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Highly Rural Transportation Grant (HRTG) Program provides free transportation services to VA-authorized healthcare appointments for veterans living in highly rural areas. Roughly 2.7 million veterans reside in highly rural areas across the country.  U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Angus King (I-ME), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services Committees, introduced the bipartisan Supporting... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download audio.*** WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has named Jason Bohrer, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lignite Energy Council, to serve as Communications Director in his Washington, D.C. office.  Bohrer is leaving the Lignite Energy Council after nearly 12 years with the trade association headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. A graduate of North Dakota State University and the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Bohrer... CONTINUE READING

***Click here to download audio. *** WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Under existing law, federal broadband deployment grants are subject to federal taxation, limiting the funds available for recipients to use. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) in introducing the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act to ensure federal broadband deployment grants are excluded from taxable income, allowing recipients to maximize investments in broadband expansion. “It certainly won’t surprise... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK, N.D. – Mobile office hours in Larimore and Mayville have been postponed. Members of U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer’s (R-ND) staff were scheduled to hold mobile office hours Thursday, February 27 at 9:00 a.m. CT in Larimore and 11:00 a.m. CT in Mayville. More information will be announced at a later date regarding rescheduling the office hours. CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora is slated to open the summer of 2026. To allow the library to acquire personal artifacts from the nation’s 26th president highlighting President Roosevelt’s personal connection to North Dakota, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in introducing the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Museum Artifacts Act. The bill draws on existing law allowing... CONTINUE READING

Resolution curbs illegal immigration, secures the border, rebuilds national defense, and cuts wasteful spending ***Click here to download audio.***  WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate passed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget Resolution by a vote of 52 to 48 today. This is the first step in the expedited budget process, known as budget reconciliation, setting the parameters for Congress to craft and pass a budget. The House of Representatives must now pass its version of a resolution to... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recent years, several prominent bus manufacturers have declared bankruptcy. Outdated payment practices from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are contributing to the challenging business environment and unnecessarily raising costs for bus manufacturers and their customers. Amendments to the FTA are referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Development (Banking) Committee, which has jurisdiction. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Banking... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Every year, approximately 200,000 men and women leave U.S. military service and return to life as civilians. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, joined U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) in introducing the Servicemember to Veteran Health Care Connection Act. The legislation would codify and build upon the existing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)... CONTINUE READING

Click here to download video. Click here for audio. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing today to discuss how to improve the federal permitting process, which has long been a frustration for those trying to build infrastructure, housing, energy, and transportation projects. Recent efforts to streamline and reform the process have not gained consensus, but the EPW Committee is exploring bipartisan solutions to provide clarity and consistency in... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced members of his staff will hold mobile office hours in Larimore and Mayville on Thursday, February 27. “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 Cramer. “Having members of my staff in Larimore and Mayville will give North Dakotans more chances to explore solutions to the problems they... CONTINUE READING

Click here for audio. WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Fiscal Year 2022, over 100,000 children were awaiting adoption. To better support adoptive children and families, Congressional Coalition on Adoption co-chairs U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced two pieces of legislation. Pre- and post-adoption services are essential to supporting adoptive families, and the Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act (SACFA) enhances pre- and post-adoption support services by... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The impacts of the federal estate tax, often referred to as the death tax, were reduced in 2017 with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which doubled the amount exempt from the tax and tied it to inflation. These tax cuts, unless extended, expire in 2025. In particular, the death tax significantly impacts family farms, ranches, and small businesses. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in introducing the Death Tax Repeal... CONTINUE READING

Click here for audio. Click here for video WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing to discuss carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) technologies. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the EPW Committee, introduced the first witness, Kevin Connors, the Assistant Director for Regulatory Compliance and Energy Policy at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) in Grand Forks, N.D. “I love the opportunity to... CONTINUE READING

Stressed the Necessity of Competition in the Banking System   ***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.*** WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Banking) Committee held a hearing on the Federal Reserve’s semiannual monetary report to Congress. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the committee. In July 2023, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK, N.D. – In 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a review of the actual utilization of 24 agency headquarters buildings to better understand how the federal government is utilizing its real estate portfolio. On average, 17 of the 24 agency headquarters reviewed were at 25 percent or less utilization, with some agencies as low as nine percent.   U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Transportation and... CONTINUE READING

BISMARCK, N.D. – The Water Resources Development Act of 2024 included legislation from U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee, and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), member of the EPW Committee, to rightsize the federal government’s real estate portfolio and ensure taxpayer-funded buildings do not sit empty. Their legislation, the Federal Assets and Transfers Act (FASTA) Reform Act, builds on the... CONTINUE READING

PARCS Radar in Cavalier Central to the Mission ***Click here to download audio.*** WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Missile defense plays a key role in deterring and defeating adversary ballistic missiles and other threats against the United States, its allies, and American military forces overseas. In January, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to build an Iron Dome for America, similar to Israel’s Iron Dome. The EO directs the implementation of a “next-generation missile defense shield... CONTINUE READING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Banking) Committee held a hearing today to ensure banks and financial institutions make lending and services decisions based on impartial, risk-based analysis, not political or reputational favoritism. In recent years, prominent American banks have engaged in a discriminatory practice, referred to as debanking. Banks and financial institutions have used their economic standing to categorically exclude law-abiding industries by... CONTINUE READING