Category: US Senate

Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

---

---

Previous Article

Source: United States Senator for South Dakota John Thune

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) this week urged U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to direct the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to provide additional support to tribal law enforcement agencies in South Dakota to help combat the spike of violent crime on reservations.
“While a significant number of tribal communities in South Dakota are dealing with an increase in serious crime, it is important to note the situation on each respective reservation is unique and requires individual attention,” the delegation wrote. “Therefore, we request the BIA closely evaluate tribal crime statistics and work directly with individual tribal leaders to address these threats to public safety.”
Full letter below:
Dear Secretary Haaland:

We are writing to report to you that South Dakota’s Indian reservations are witnessing a troubling deterioration in public safety. We therefore request that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) coordinate with South Dakota tribal leaders to provide additional resources for tribal law enforcement agencies. This may include increased funding and manpower from the BIA to deliver improved law enforcement services on South Dakota’s reservations.

According to crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota reservations have some of the highest violent crime rates in the nation. A shortage of law enforcement and detention officers on the reservations has contributed to the current situation in tribal communities. With low personnel numbers and a high number of calls for assistance, tribal law enforcement officers often struggle to respond to emergencies in a timely manner. In an attempt to address manpower issues, a number of tribal leaders have asked the BIA to either streamline law enforcement hiring processes or provide emergency supplemental funding.

While a significant number of tribal communities in South Dakota are dealing with an increase in serious crime, it is important to note the situation on each respective reservation is unique and requires individual attention. Therefore, we request the BIA closely evaluate tribal crime statistics and work directly with individual tribal leaders to address these threats to public safety. We understand that the BIA has successfully provided needed assistance to tribal law enforcement agencies in the past. If for some reason that is not possible now, we respectfully ask that the BIA search for any reasonable alternative to improve law enforcement services on South Dakota’s reservations.

Without the BIA’s immediate intervention, the safety of our tribal communities will continue to deteriorate. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Source: United States Senator for South Dakota John Thune

Click here to watch the video.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about President Biden’s disingenuous and out-of-touch op-ed in the Wall Street Journal where he touts a pro-growth, pro-jobs economic record. Thune noted that the value of Americans’ wages have dropped, and families are paying $880 more per month due to the president’s policies that have helped fuel the country’s inflation crisis.
Thune’s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):
“Mr. President, at the end of last week President Biden published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal touting his economic record.
 
“It was not exactly new material.
 
“The president is well-known for attempting to put a rosy spin on his economic record.
 
“But I still have to marvel every time the president claims he’s building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, and working to give families ‘more breathing room.’ 
 
“Because if there’s one thing that can be said about the Biden presidency, it’s that American families have lost a lot of their breathing room. 
 
“The inflation crisis the president helped create is costing American families $880 this month.
 
“Let me just repeat that, Mr. President.
 
“The inflation crisis the president helped create is costing American families $880 this month.
 
“$880.
 
“For just one month.
 
“Meanwhile, real wages have declined for 26 consecutive months under President Biden.
 
“26 consecutive months.
 
“Two-plus years.
 
“It’s no surprise that in a poll last month, 49 percent of Americans reported that their personal financial situation is getting worse.
 
“Or that in another poll, 61 percent said recent price increases had caused financial hardship for them or their household.
 
“And, Mr. President, let’s be very clear. 
 
“This is not a random situation that has just happened to occur on the president’s watch.
 
“The president bears direct responsibility for this inflation crisis, which was set off in large part thanks to the bloated, big-government American Rescue Plan spending spree Democrats and the president forced through shortly after the president came to office.
 
“And you don’t have to take my word on that.
 
“Here’s what one former Obama adviser had to say on the subject: ‘The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in the early days of the Biden administration will go down in history as an extraordinary policy mistake.’
 
“‘… will go down in history as an extraordinary policy mistake.’
 
“That’s from an Obama adviser.
 
“Or as another former Obama adviser noted, and I quote, ‘The original sin was an oversized American Rescue Plan.’
 
“And contrary to what he suggests in his op-ed, the president has done exactly nothing to bring down inflation since.
 
“Indeed, he has continued to pursue the same kind of big-government, big-spending policies that helped land us in this mess in the first place.
 
And so it is frankly staggering to me that the president continues to have the audacity to say things like ‘hardworking families are reaping the rewards’ of his policies.
 
“Hardworking families are certainly reaping something from the president’s policies, but it isn’t rewards.
 
“But, as I said earlier, the president is well-known for trying to put a rosy spin on his economic record.
 
“And he trots out some of his favorite – misleading – statistics in this op-ed.
 
“Since he took office, he claims, the economy has created more than 13 million jobs.
 
“That sounds pretty good, right?
 
“Until you realize that the vast majority of those jobs weren’t newly created, but are rather just jobs that were naturally added back after the pandemic.
 
“Currently we are just 3.7 million jobs above where we were pre-pandemic. 
 
“Hardly the historic job boom the president portrays.
 
“The president also mentions that gasoline prices are down from their peak in June 2022.
 
“But he neglects to mention that gas prices are currently up 50 percent from where they were when he took office.
 
“Then of course the president brings up one of his favorite claims – that he reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion over the first two years of his administration.
 
“Here’s how the Washington Post’s Fact Checker column has described that claim – ‘highly misleading.’
 
“‘Highly misleading.’
 
“The president arrives at this highly misleading statistic by comparing his budget deficit in fiscal year 2022 to the fiscal year 2020 budget deficit, which was unusually large – to put it mildly – as a result of the COVID pandemic.
 
“A much more appropriate comparison would be to compare President Biden’s actual 2022 budget deficit to what the Congressional Budget Office was projecting that deficit would be before the president’s American Rescue Plan spending spree was enacted.
 
“That tells a far different story. 
 
“The reality, as the Post points out, and I quote, is that “the data shows the deficit picture has worsened under Biden.”
 
“The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column recently awarded President Biden a ‘Bottomless Pinocchio’ for his deficit reduction claims – a rating the column gives for, quote, ‘false or misleading statements repeated so often that they [become] a form of propaganda.’
 
“Mr. President, I can’t close without mentioning the president’s staggering claim that he ‘fought so hard to bring Democrats and Republicans in Congress together to compromise on the budget and prevent a catastrophic default.’
 
“As I’ve already highlighted, the president is fairly well-known for revisionist history, but this statement might take the cake.
 
“Can the president possibly think that people have already forgotten that he spent months refusing to negotiate on a debt ceiling agreement, and only came to the table at the last minute?
 
“Credit to the president for eventually recognizing that divided government requires compromise, but to suggest that he set out from the outset to forge a compromise between Democrats and Republicans is to skate the line between revisionist history and outright falsehood.
 
“Mr. President, after two years of painful price hikes at the gas pump and the grocery store, I think few Americans would recognize the positive picture the president paints in his op-ed.
 
“And unfortunately, it’s clear from the president’s column that he plans to continue to pursue policies that will further undermine the economic wellbeing of the American people.
 
“So much for giving American families more breathing room.
 
“Mr. President, I yield the floor.”

Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

WASHINGTON–U.S Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in introducing the Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act to help all victims of gun violence—from survivors to their loved ones, coworkers, and classmates—identify and access the resources available to them to help meet medical, legal, financial, and other needs. The bill would establish an interagency Advisory Council to help victims navigate and use these resources, streamlining what can be a complex process in a nation of gun violence survivors. More than 110 people die by guns every day, and more than 200 are shot and injured.

“When we talk about gun violence, the focus is usually on how many people have been killed or injured. But these statistics don’t come close to capturing the scope of this crisis. There are ripples of grief and long-term trauma that wash over communities impacted by gun violence. The least we can do is make sure that survivors, family and friends, and community members get the support they need to begin picking up the pieces,” said Murphy.

“Confronting tragedy and despair, all who suffer gun violence need more help and support— whether they’re individual survivors, grieving families or broken communities. This measure will enable healing and recovery for countless victims and survivors who lack access to necessary resources. Addressing trauma and tragedy right away can be critical, which means access to aid must be streamlined, as we seek here,” said Blumenthal.

“While we continue to fight for commonsense measures to prevent gun violence in our communities, we owe it to survivors and their loved ones and caregivers to make sure they have the support they need to recover and move forward from gun violence,” Casey said. “The Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act will better connect survivors, families, and caregivers to resources that support their recovery and help them manage the long-term of effects of these preventable tragedies.”

The Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act would:

• Address these challenges by establishing an Advisory Council to help all victims of gun violence— from survivors to their loved ones, coworkers, and classmates—identify and access the resources available to them to help meet a wide range of personal needs.
• Convene representatives across a variety of federal agencies, victim assistance professionals such as medical specialists and social workers, and victims of gun violence to lead the Council.
• Require the Council to assess the comprehensive needs of victims of gun violence and in turn, gather and disseminate information about the resources, programs, and benefits available to victims to help meet their needs.
• Require the Council to submit a report to Congress on its findings related to these resources and identify any gaps in policy that the government could address.

U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) cosponsored the legislation.

The bill is supported by Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady, Giffords, March for Our Lives, Newtown Action Alliance, Junior Newtown Action Alliance, States United To Prevent Gun Violence, Survivors Empowered, Community Justice Action Fund, and National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

###

Source: United States Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced legislation to lower energy prices for American families by repealing the $10.5 billion “Superfund Tax” on American energy production.

The bicameral Pay Less at the Pump Act (S. 1942) will repeal the “Superfund Tax” on crude oil and imported petroleum products that was reinstated in the Democrats’ reckless tax and spend bill. This tax leads to higher prices for families and businesses. Upon reinstatement of the long-expired tax, the tax was raised from its original 9.7 cents per barrel to a new rate of 16.4 cents per barrel. Additionally, the tax was indexed to inflation, meaning higher tax burdens in future years.

“Hardworking families in Wyoming are paying the price for the Democrats’ war on American energy. Across the country, Americans are feeling the pain every time they go to fill up their gas tanks,” said Senator Barrasso. “Reckless and out-of-touch taxes like this make already skyrocketing energy costs even higher, at a time when Americans can least afford it. We must repeal this tax and put forward proposals that unleash American energy and lower costs for Wyoming families.”

Cosponsors of this legislation include U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and John Hoeven (R-N.D.).

U.S. Congressman Mike Carey (R-Ohio) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This bill has received support from the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and the American Petroleum Institute.

“Wyoming producers already face some of the highest tax rates in the country. Further increasing the tax burden on Wyoming producers hurts businesses from the well pad to main streets across the state. We appreciate Senator Barrasso’s work to repeal this misguided policy and bring common sense solutions to reduce energy costs.” – Pete Obermueller, President of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming

“Any measures government can take in this inflationary environment to eliminate unnecessary taxes that needlessly raise the cost of manufacturing gasoline and diesel in the United States should be pursued. We appreciate the leadership of Senator Barrasso in elevating this matter and prioritizing affordable, competitive American energy and manufacturing. We hope this legislation and its companion bill in the House receive swift consideration and passage.” – Aaron Ringel, Vice President Government Relations, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

“Increasing taxes on American energy places additional burdens on the U.S. natural gas and oil industry’s ability to meet growing global energy demand. We welcome Sen. Barrasso’s efforts to repeal this ill-conceived policy and instead focus on legislation that will foster investment in affordable and reliable American energy.” – Amanda Eversole, Executive Vice President & Chief Advocacy Officer, American Petroleum Institute

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

###

Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio

Human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking, is an evil crime that the federal government has an obligation to combat for the protection of innocent victims. However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of the extent of sex trafficking in the United States. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is our nation’s primary source of information on criminal victimizations. Yet, NCVS currently does not ask questions about sex trafficking, despite logical places for these questions to fit into the survey’s questionnaire.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics Alexis Piquero urging him to add questions to the next NCVS regarding sex trafficking encounters and victimizations. 

• “It should be BJS’ utmost priority to obtain essential data on heinous crimes like sex trafficking, which could subsequently assist lawmakers, victim service providers, and law enforcement in finding ways to better understand, combat, and respond to the issue.”

The full text of the letter is below. 

Dear Director Piquero: 

I write to urge the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to add questions to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) regarding sex trafficking encounters and victimizations.  It is my understanding that BJS is currently in phase one on a redesign of the survey, and thus, I ask that these important questions be considered.

Since 1973, NCVS has collected valuable, self-reported information on the rate of various crimes.  Annually, NCVS collects data from a nationally representative sample of more than 200,000 people who are contacted and surveyed on their experiences with heinous crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual assault, regardless of whether such experiences were reported to law enforcement.  The survey also collects broader information pertaining to the nature, circumstances, and consequences surrounding the crime(s).  However, NCVS currently does not address sex trafficking as part of its annual survey. 

As you may know, trafficking data in the United States is largely fragmented and offers an incomplete view as to the presence of the issue, and opportunities to better track this information remain.  The insufficiency of this data undermines the scope of the problem and hinders efforts to effectively curtail and eventually eliminate trafficking, including the pain it inflicts upon its innocent victims.  It should be BJS’ utmost priority to obtain essential data on heinous crimes like sex trafficking, which could subsequently assist lawmakers, victim service providers, and law enforcement in finding ways to better understand, combat, and respond to the issue.  Further, the text of the most recent version of the survey lends itself to many places where trafficking questions could be logically inserted.

As one of the nation’s most valuable crime victimization surveys, NCVS is failing to assist authorities by continuing to not collect this data.  I urge BJS to add questions to NCVS regarding sex trafficking encounters and victimizations.  Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

---

---

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

---

---