Senator Romney released a statement in response to President Biden’s announcement to designate land near the Grand Canyon as a national monument, which will have detrimental impacts Utah’s miners and ranchers.
Senator Romney joined Senators Scott (R-SC) and Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, in urging Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to withdraw the unlawful “Clean Power Plan 2.0.” The plan effectively shuts down affordable and reliable energy, intensifying the energy shortage the United States is already facing.
Over the last several weeks, the Senate has been working on crafting this year’s national defense authorization bill—which passed yesterday with strong bipartisan support. Senator Romney successfully secured several measures in the bill to protect against China and Russia, reaffirm Utah’s role in our national security, and improve passport services for Utahns. He also helped introduce bipartisan bills to combat the opioid epidemic and improve the water quality of the Colorado River, and met with several Utahns visiting Washington.
Senator Romney applauded Senate passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, annual legislation that authorizes funding levels and provides authorities for the U.S. military and other critical defense priorities, ensuring America’s forces have the training, equipment, and resources they need to carry out their missions.
Senator Romney joined Senators Wicker (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Collins (R-ME), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as 22 of their Senate and House colleagues in calling on President Biden to take immediate action to strengthen the U.S. submarine industrial base as the U.S. works to fulfill the terms of the historic Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) partnership.
Senators Romney and Manchin (D-WV) reintroduced the bipartisan Life Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment (LifeBOAT) Act, bipartisan legislation which would establish a stewardship fee to provide and expand access to substance use treatment.
Senator Romney joined Senators Bennet (D-CO) and Lummis (R-WY) in introducing the Colorado River Salinity Control Fix Act, legislation which would provide greater support for Colorado River Basin water users and local governments working to reduce the salt load in the Colorado River.
Two of the Senator’s public health proposals were included in a bill that passed out of the Health Committee with large bipartisan support. Later in the week, his bipartisan legislation to make it U.S. policy to oppose China being given the status of a “developing nation” in treaties and international organizations unanimously passed the Senate. The Senator also introduced legislation to support competency-based education, which has been championed at Utah-based Western Governors University.
Senator Romney applauded the passage of the bipartisan Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act (PAHPA), which passed today by a vote of 17-3. Romney served as a lead negotiator of PAHPA along with his HELP colleague Senator Casey (D-PA) and Senators Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member and Chair of HELP, respectively.
Senators Romney and Casey (D-PA), members of the Senate HELP Committee, applauded the passage of their pandemic preparedness and response bill out of Committee. With lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act strengthens the United States’ ability to address future public health crises by investing in public health programs, promoting public health data and information sharing, strengthening lab security, and pursuing new research.
In an effort to prevent money laundering and stop crypto-facilitated crime and sanctions violations, Senators Romney (R-UT), Reed (D-RI), Rounds (R-SD), and Warner (D-VA) introduced the Crypto-Asset National Security Enhancement and Enforcement (CANSEE) Act. This bipartisan legislation requires decentralized finance (DeFi) services to meet the same anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance obligations as other financial companies, including centralized crypto trading platforms, casinos, and even pawn shops.
Senators Romney and Hickenlooper (D-CO) introduced the Competency-Based Education Act of 2023, bipartisan legislation which will codify the Department of Education’s regulations governing the eligibility of competency-based education (CBE) programs. Western Governors University, a private, non-profit online university based in Millcreek, Utah, is recognized as a nationwide leader in CBE.