Senator Cramer’s Weekly Update July 18-24

Red Trail Energy Carbon Capture Sequestration Operation Begins in Richardton

Carbon Capture Sequestration has begun at Red Trail Energy LLC! This is the first carbon capture and storage project permitted in North Dakota and in the U.S. under Class VI injection primacy.

The future of responsible energy development and innovation runs through North Dakota with the United States’ first permitted carbon capture sequestration project up and running in Richardton. For the past month, Red Trail Energy has removed carbon dioxide from an existing ethanol manufacturing facility and injected it into the ground. This is a huge milestone we all should celebrate.

North Dakota had the foresight to secure Class VI primacy in 2018 under the Trump Environmental Protection Agency, which laid the groundwork for carbon capture projects like this. Congratulations to Red Trail Energy and the entire community in Richardton!

Farm Service Agency Adjusts Livestock Indemnity Program Payments

Last week, the Farm Service Agency announced payment adjustments for the Livestock Indemnity Program.

The Livestock Indemnity Program exists to assist producers who had above normal livestock fatalities as a result of storms, like the significant blizzards which impacted North Dakota this spring. The storms coincided with calving season and caused significant fatalities among newborn calves.

This announcement adjusting livestock indemnity payments is a better reflection of the fair market value of a producer’s animals.

I’m grateful the Farm Service Agency reviewed my request and made the appropriate change to ensure producers receive meaningful relief for their losses.

Prior to the announcement, 2022’s calculations for assistance for non-adult beef cattle weighing less than 250 pounds was $175, which reflected an average market price of $233. The announcement increases the payment rate to $474.38 representing a market value of approximately $632, a substantial increase from previous calculations. The increased assistance aligns the payment rate for calves under 250 pounds with the payment rate for calves between 250 and 399 pounds.

Interviews Discuss Fufeng Farmland Purchase Near Grand Forks Air Force Base

Fox & Friends

I joined Fox & Friends to discuss my opposition to the Fufeng group’s purchase of farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base. I’m concerned about the proximity to the airbase. I’m more broadly concerned by the fact China is able to continually make investments, buy property and enter into our food supply chain in the United States.

During the pandemic, it was discovered China’s ownership of meat processing in the United States made our meat supply vulnerable. If we haven’t already learned about the vulnerability of food supply, energy supply, other critical minerals, and pharmaceuticals from China, we need to learn quickly.

I’m very concerned about the Fufeng group’s purchase of farmland and have been voicing my opposition to this from the very beginning.

But now we’re asking for a further review by Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States. The right move here is a strategic decoupling from China. We ought to do it deliberately and quickly.

The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax

I joined The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax to discuss the Fufeng group’s purchase of farmland near the Grand Forks Air Force Base and my request to CFIUS to review the purchase.

I have serious national security concerns when it comes to Chinese foreign investment. But in this case, the local community leadership and the state have put guardrails in place, including clawbacks, so they have reserved the right to end the deal and could take ownership of the property.

To their credit, they've done a really good job of protecting the investment to make sure it doesn't leave the country or get compromised. I think the first results of the CFIUS review are all that will be necessary because local officials could take it from there.

America Reports

I also joined Sandra Smith and John Roberts on Fox News’ America Reports to discuss my concerns about the Fufeng group’s purchase of farmland near the Grand Forks Air Force Base. China has proven themselves to be both capable and more than willing to steal intellectual property, to intercept the data, and they’re very good at it.

The China of today has turned out to be a very nefarious China. Rather than inviting them into our backyard, we ought to have more of a strategic decoupling of our relationship with China. We ought to work closer with our allies, Western nations, and other Asian nations who share our values rather than having a partner so close to us that we can’t trust.

Grand Forks is not only an important Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance base, it’s a reconnaissance wing that flies Global Hawks. We recently cut the ribbon on a new satellite ground station for low Earth-orbiting satellites that will soon be providing communications in the sky. The next generation of ISR flying vehicle – unmanned aerial systems – is future of the Grand Forks Air Force Base. It’s a very important base.

Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy Essay Discusses Restoring States' Rights and Adhering to Cooperative Federalism in Environmental Policy

The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy published my essay on restoring states’ rights and federalism in environmental policy. I examined the Clean Air Act, specifically Section 111(d), the Clean Water Act, the Flood Control Act, and Water Supply Rule.

Tension between the States and the federal government has existed since the beginning. However, recent Democrat political leadership has trended toward federal dominion well outside the bounds of the law.

This tension is most evident in environmental legal battles, where the federal government has pursued full authority and jurisdiction to “save” the nation from the pesky states who have not signed onto its agenda.

Legislation Introduced to Stop Flawed Social Cost of Carbon from Driving Energy Regulations

I helped introduce the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act with Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a bill to prohibit the federal government from using the flawed social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, social cost of nitrous oxide, or the social cost of any other greenhouse gas metrics in the rulemaking process.

The social cost of carbon is an arbitrary and inconsistent metric. It is being used to justify the Biden Administration’s radical climate agenda and has already been changed multiple times, causing major disruptions in the already cumbersome permitting process.

These metrics have become a silver bullet for fringe environmentalist groups and their friends in the administration to stop energy development projects and implement overbearing regulations. The Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulation Act bars the federal government from using these analyses so projects are not held hostage by activist bureaucrats in Washington.

The legislation also requires a report to Congress on the use of social cost of carbon and its related entities in order to provide additional insight into the rules and regulations promulgated by the Biden Administration using these secret, capricious measurements.

Resolution to Overturn Biden’s Onerous National Environmental Policy Act Rules

I introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act with all of my Senate Republican colleagues to nullify the Biden Administration’s new regulation, “National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Regulations Revisions.”

The regulation reverses common sense permitting reforms implemented by the Trump Administration, further bogging down the federal permitting process and delaying vital infrastructure projects.

Congress saw the wisdom in President Trump’s permitting reforms and included provisions to codify his actions in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Biden Administration’s NEPA rule is nothing more than new red tape which will delay permits and much needed infrastructure investment.

Bipartisan Legislation Allows Merit-Based Immigration

This week, Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and I introduced the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2022, a bill which will benefit the U.S. economy by allowing American employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace. The EAGLE Act phases out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raises the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%. It does not increase the total number of allowable visas.

It’s no secret our immigration system is broken and, given current workforce challenges, it’s high time to implement a skills-based immigration system.

In North Dakota, we rely on thousands of highly-skilled immigrants, especially when it comes to rural healthcare and software developers. These individuals play an important role in our economy and our communities, but because of arbitrary per country caps, their legal status is constantly in jeopardy. Our bill fixes this issue by instituting a merit-based system regardless of their country of origin without increasing the number of employment-based visas we already allow.

Letter Urges Biden to Implement Grant Program in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as Congress Intended

I joined Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) in sending a letter to the Department of Energy urging it to implement the Direct Air Capture Hub Program established under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as Congress intended.

The Department of Energy is currently imposing onerous, one-size-fits-all requirements on grant applicants, limiting the program's ability to work.

I encourage the Department to implement the Direct Air Capture Program in accordance with congressional intent. Doing so will still support other forms of Carbon Dioxide Removal and point source carbon capture enabled by the hub model.

Letter Criticizes SEC Chairman Gensler for Stonewalling Congressional Inquiry into SEC’s Proposed Climate Rule

Every Senate Banking Committee Republican and I criticized Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for the SEC’s lack of transparency and disregard for a significant congressional oversight request concerning the SEC’s 500-page proposed climate disclosure rule—a sweeping new regulation that will harm consumers, workers, and the entire U.S. economy at a time when energy prices are skyrocketing.

In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch and its agencies, including financial regulators, cannot use creative, new interpretations of existing law to pretend they have legal authority to support sweeping policy changes that Congress never intended. Unfortunately, the SEC appears to be trying to act in precisely this way with its climate disclosure rule.

On June 15, Banking Republicans sent a letter asking the SEC to submit answers by June 29 to a number of questions. The senators also requested the SEC preserve and turn over a number of records related to the proposed rule by June 29. On July 12—nearly two weeks past the deadline—Chairman Gensler responded to the senators’ letter with a perfunctory one-page response which included none of the answers or records requested.

Letter Opposes Biden Administration’s Flawed Title IX Proposal

I sent a letter with Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona criticizing the Administration’s proposed changes to Title IX and urging an extension of the public comment period by 30 days.

The proposed changes to the Title IX rule for adjudicating sexual misconduct cases on college campuses threaten students’ Constitutional right to due process and run counter to federal court precedent.

Letter Calls for Increased Access to Osteopathic Medical Research

Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and I sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging Acting National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak to expand funding opportunities for research in osteopathic medicine.

Osteopathic is the fastest growing medical field in the country and NIH funding and resources should reflect that.

Letter Highlights Concerns with Federal Housing Finance Agency Race-Based Subsidies

I joined Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) on a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson raising significant concerns with the Equitable Housing Finance Plans which contemplate race-based housing subsidies.

I’m urging the FHFA to reconsider these affirmative action housing subsidy plans. First, the plans are manifestly unfair and should be unconstitutional. Discrimination on the basis of skin color is simply wrong. That remains true even when intended to benefit minorities.

Plus, the plans risk setting up another generation of minority borrowers for failure and the law does not give FHFA this authority.

Rail Companies Issue Status Reports on Grain Car Backlog

I announced BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway publicly filed weekly grain backlog status updates as required by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. A summary of the reporting data specific to North Dakota for the last 10 weeks is below.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway

I met with BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer for an update on the railroad’s service capacity ahead of the fall harvest.

About 78% of the grains and oilseeds our state produces moves by rail. Ensuring smooth, reliable rail service is vital for all North Dakota’s shippers.

Dickinson Ready Mix Co.

Thanks, Dickinson Ready Mix Co. President Scott Olin for the discussion on the opportunities and challenges you’re facing.

The infrastructure law continues to benefit North Dakota, but there’s no doubt workforce challenges and supply chain issues are causing shortages in drivers and increased material costs.

Future Farmers of America

It was great to meet with the newly-elected North Dakota Future Farmers of America (FFA) State President and Secretary! Best of luck as you lead and represent the 7,000 North Dakota FFA members throughout the next year.

North Dakota Young Republicans

It was fun to meet with North Dakota Young Republicans for an update on their outreach efforts and goals as young Republican leaders!

North Dakota is lucky to have you as future leaders of our great state.

Grants for North Dakota

DOT Awards $500,000 to North Dakota Department of Transportation for Highway Repair Following Floods and Winter Storms

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration awarded $500,000 to the North Dakota Department of Transportation for the repair and reconstruction of federal-aid highways and roads on federal lands, which suffered serious damage as a result of April 2022 severe storms and flooding in eastern North Dakota. North Dakota’s disaster declaration for severe spring storms was approved last week.

Eligible repair work includes emergency repairs needed to restore essential traffic, minimize the extent of damage, or protect the remaining facilities, as well as permanent repairs necessary to restore the highway to its pre-disaster condition.

EPA Awards $280,000 to North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality for Small Community Drinking Water Assistance

The Environment Protection Agency awarded $280,000 to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to implement a program to provide drinking water assistance to underserved, small, and disadvantaged communities in the Tri-County Water District.

The funds will be used by the state to carry out projects and activities needed for public water systems to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, programs to provide household water quality testing and activities for a state to respond to a drinking water contaminant.