At the Senate confirmation hearing for Dr. Stephen Hahn to serve as the next FDA Commissioner, Senator Romney urged him to put public health ahead of politics in taking action to address the vaping epidemic.



Following the hearing, Senator Romney issued the following statement: "While I appreciate that Dr. Hahn agrees that bold action is needed to reduce youth vaping, I believe he should have affirmed the need for a flavor ban based on the evidence seen so far, which is that flavored e-cigarettes are drawing more and more kids into vaping and they are becoming addicted to nicotine without knowing it. We have a health emergency on our hands, and the Administration must follow through on its commitment to ban flavors that entice our youth."



Full story by Dan Harrie here.



Senator Romney convened Utah collegiate athletic directors for a discussion on how to compensate student athletes. The mutual concern: how to preserve the integrity of collegiate sports. The Senator pledged to keep working hand in hand with this group and the NCAA
on a solution that achieves both.



Senator Romney wants to make sure that the college athletes of today, and the athletes in the future, don't have to sacrifice their time and their bodies without being fairly compensated.



Full story by Dennis Romboy here.



This week, the Senate unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to show support for the pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. Senator Romney said: "These protests are further exposing China’s relentless campaign of repression and censorship and remind us of how precious freedom truly is."

At a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee hearing, Senator Romney warned that China is increasingly exploiting American research institutions and universities to steal U.S. intellectual property, which means American taxpayers are funding China's quest for world dominance.



The Senator called on Congress to work with American universities and research institutions, the State Department, and the FBI to develop a comprehensive strategy to identify and respond to China's Thousand Talents Plan and similar threats from other adversaries.



Full story by Brendan Bordelon here.



Senator Romney this week voted against a stop-gap government spending bill this week, saying: “I promised the people of Utah I would vote against these kinds of last-minute, short-term spending bills. We passed a bill like this in September, and here we are again, and in four more weeks will do this all over again. This is no way to govern. The longer Congress continues to rubber-stamp spending bills without addressing the drivers of our debt, the worse our country’s fiscal challenges get. That is why I voted against this spending bill.” 



While the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Emergency Watershed Protection Program is an important tool, state and local partners across Utah have faced hurdles when trying to access these funds for wildfire recovery. Senator Romney teamed up with Senator Bennet (D-CO) to call on the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review of this program:



Full story by Connor Richards here.



Senator Romney met with Tibetan President Dr. Lobsang Sangay to discuss the Tibetan people's pursuit of genuine autonomy from the Chinese regime. They also discussed similar pursuits of the people of Hong Kong, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan, and the Uighurs.





The Senator also met with Utahns in Washington, including:



Utah County Clerk Amelia Powers and her elections staff who were in town to receive an award for their work coordinating elections.



Representatives from the Natural Products Association.



Team Romney capped off the week with an office Thanksgiving celebration. From our team to you and your family - Happy Thanksgiving!