Senator Cramer's Weekly Update may 9-15

Vote Opposes Democrats’ Abortion Bill

I voted against Democrats’ radical abortion-on-demand bill. The bill would create a nationwide right to abortion, regardless of the upcoming Supreme Court ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and would also pre-empt pro-life state laws, including North Dakota’s. This extreme measure destroys protections for the most vulnerable by usurping states’ rights to protect life.

The right to life is our most fundamental right, most often taken for granted each day when we wake up and enjoy our lives. The sanctity of life is not a political fight, but a fight for humanity itself. It is unconscionable for Democrats to not only attempt to legislate legal abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, but also override the will of states and their citizens.

I have always promised the people of North Dakota I would fight for life at all stages. I will always fulfill that promise.

Reception Recognizes North Dakota National Guard Members

Around 200 North Dakota National Guard members from the 1-188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment have been operating out of Ft. Belvoir in Washington, D.C., for the last few months in collaboration with other U.S. Department of Defense agencies forming the integrated air defense system to protect the airspace around our nation’s capital.

Senator John Hoeven, Congressman Kelly Armstrong, and I had a great time celebrating our talented North Dakota Guard members! We held a reception thanking them for their service and for watching over our nation’s skies. Their selflessness and willingness to answer the call does not go unnoticed.

Letter Demands NEPA Review of Biden Administration’s Undefined 30x30 Initiative

I led 20 colleagues in a letter to White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory demanding they adhere to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and undergo the proper analysis and public comment period for the Biden Administration’s goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030, otherwise known as “30x30.”

A program of this magnitude requires solid legal authority and a clear plan, yet the Administration has articulated neither, leaving our constituents in the dark. What is clear, however, is the Departments are implementing the 30x30 initiative without first analyzing the program’s public and environmental impact, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Without full disclosure of the details of the 30x30 program, its environmental, budgetary, and legal impacts remain unknown and the public is left in the dark. This is hardly the open and transparent process the Administration promised.

Hearing Confronts Secretary Yellen on Biden Administration Energy Policies

I confronted U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the Biden Administration’s energy policy at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. I discussed the need for American energy production to combat the Biden Administration’s inflation crisis and global greenhouse gas emissions.

If the goal is better climate action, then we should produce more oil in the United States. We are living at a time when our friends in Europe are pleading with us. A 2050 fantasy is an aspiration, but there’s a 2022 reality facing the American consumer, the globe, national security, and international security. Let’s get all regulators back in their own lane.

Secretary Yellen’s assessment of energy production in the U.S. is flawed. The Biden Administration’s energy policies are having a chilling effect on the markets. I outlined multiple examples of negative signals sent to financial institutions and energy markets from the Biden Administration.

Hearing Questions White House Official on Administration’s Contradictory Actions on Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage and Nuclear Deployment

At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, I confronted the Biden Administration on its contradictory actions on carbon capture utilization and storage and nuclear deployment.

I asked White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory about recommendations from the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council’s Justice40 document which explicitly states projects such as carbon capture, direct air capture, procurement of nuclear power, highway and transmission expansion, and infrastructure repair will not benefit communities.

Frankly, the Justice40 document is cartoonish. I wonder if they ever ask anyone in these communities, “how would you feel if your natural gas gets turned off in the middle of winter? Or how about the air conditioning gets turned off because there’s no electricity because we’re only going to rely on the wind on the days that it blows.”

Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Hearing Discusses Radar Modernization and Space Development Agency Autonomy

On Wednesday, I discussed the need to modernize the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS) Radar Warning System at Cavalier Space Force Station. Budget documents say Cavalier’s PARCS radar facility has a “high risk that equipment failures will cause unacceptable mission downtime,” yet modernization is not funded in the budget.

This is a 50-year-old radar that’s doing important work. This technology needs a complete overhaul if not this year, then soon.

I also highlighted the need to preserve the Space Development Agency’s autonomy and flexibility and leverage and integrate commercial cybersecurity capabilities to help protect our space systems.

Bill Defends Service Members from Vaccine Punishment

Last week, I helped introduce the Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots (AMERICANS) Act, legislation to counter the Biden Administration’s efforts to coerce and punish service members who decline the COVID-19 vaccine.

This bill would require the Secretary of Defense to make every effort to retain unvaccinated service members, strengthen language to ensure service members receive discharge classifications commensurate with their record of service, require the Department of Defense to report the number and type of COVID-19 vaccine religious exemptions that have been denied, and create an exemption from COVID-19 vaccine requirements for service members with natural immunity.

Americans, especially our brave servicemen and women, should not be required to show personal medical records to do their jobs. The Biden Administration is using the COVID-19 vaccine as a tool to implement its far-left agenda infringing on the morals and religious beliefs of service members.

The AMERICANS Act is a step in the right direction to protect our soldiers from COVID vaccine mandates.

Hearing Discusses Shipyard Infrastructure and Workforce Challenges

This week at a joint Seapower and Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee hearing, I asked Navy officials what we could be doing to streamline authorities beneficial to update our Navy’s shipyard infrastructure and increase recruitment and retention.

I also highlighted the Supplying Help to Infrastructure in Ports, Yards, and America’s Repair Docks (SHIPYARD) Act, which provides funding to make investments needed to optimize, improve, and rebuild shipyard facilities, electrical infrastructure, environmental systems, and the equipment of public and private shipyards in the U.S. that support the U.S. Navy fleet.

Letter Warns Against Banning Lead Ammo & Tackle on Public Lands

Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and I urged U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams not to cave into activists’ calls to restrict the use of lead ammunition and tackle on public lands.

Policies or actions that reduce or limit sportsmen activities handcuff wildlife managers by removing a critical conservation tool while needlessly alienating one of our original conservationists, sportsmen.

The impact of such a policy would be devastating to the sportsmen heritage in our states.

Phasing-out lead ammo and tackle on wildlife refuges would disproportionately affect lower-income households and those that depend on hunting and fishing for their subsistence as lead alternatives are often more expensive.

Resolution Recognizes National Nurses Week

I joined Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and David Joyce (R-OH) in introducing a bipartisan, bicameral resolution recognizing National Nurses Week.

Nurses are the cornerstone of the public health infrastructure, promoting healthy lifestyles and educating communities on disease prevention and health promotion.

The resolution honors and celebrates the important contributions of America’s nurses to patients across the country each and every day.

Amicus Brief Calls on Supreme Court to End Discrimination Against Asian American College Applicants

Last week, I joined U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Steel (R-CA), and a bicameral group of 81 legislators in filing an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in the cases Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions vs. University of North Carolina.

At both schools, admissions policies have disenfranchised Asian-Americans, as the schools applied racial preferences to discriminate against Asian-American applicants despite superior GPAs and standardized test scores.

Energy Workforce and Technology Council

Thanks to the Energy Workforce and Technology Council for having me to discuss deploying carbon capture utilization and storage, reforms to speed up the permitting process, and the critical work they do to develop American energy.

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Leadership

The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate leadership came by my office to talk about tribal sovereignty and best practices to ensure drug and alcohol prevention and rehabilitation programs are effective for tribal communities. I appreciate their insight and look forward to working with them.

American Israel Public Affairs Committee

It was great to meet with Dan Rosen and Yehuda Neuberger from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. We discussed the importance of continuing a strong relationship with Israel and what America can do to assist in promoting peace in the area.

General Electric

I met with General Electric’s Global Energy Business, owners of Grand Fork’s LM Wind Power, to discuss how we can work together to provide reliable electricity while reducing emissions through an all-the-above energy portfolio which leverages the innovation of American companies.

Grants for North Dakota

U.S. Department of Agriculture Approves $10.9 Million to Construct Medical Facilities in Towner County

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development approved a loan guarantee of $10,894,000 to Towner County Hospital Authority.

The funds will be used to construct a 76,000 square foot critical access hospital and nursing home for TCHA in Cando. The replacement project will consist of a 10-bed acute care hospital, a 30-bed long-term care facility, and a five-bed basic care facility.

This will bring modern, code-compliant inpatient and outpatient care spaces, with dramatic improvements in inpatient care, appropriate space for the emergency department and diagnostic imaging, as well as improving other patient care and support areas, in particular, physical therapy, laboratory, ambulatory surgery, and central sterile.