January 3, 2020 marked one year since Senator Romney was sworn into the Senate. Over the past year, he has made progress in pushing back against federal overreach on issues impacting our rural counties, advocating for greater local input in public land matters, safeguarding Utah’s role in our national defense, and more. He heard from folks at 15 town halls across the state -- from Logan, to Vernal, to St. George -- and connected with many constituents through letters, emails, and phone calls. See below for an op-ed recapping progress on Utah priorities during his first year in the Senate.




Full opinion by Senator Romney here.



Senator Romney issued the following statement on the targeted killing of General Qassem Soleimani:

“Qassem Soleimani was a depraved terrorist who had the blood of hundreds of American servicemen and women on his hands, and who was doubtlessly planning operations to further harm our citizens and allies. We remember and honor the sacrifice of those servicemen and women, and we commend our brave troops and intel officers who carried out this successful mission. At this time of increased tension in the region, the U.S. must take necessary steps to protect our personnel there and beyond. With ever increasing challenges confronting us in the Middle East, it is imperative that the U.S. and our allies articulate and pursue a coherent strategy for protecting our security interests in the region. I will be pressing the Administration for additional details in the days ahead.”



Full story by Matthew Brown here.

In addition to briefings from cabinet officials, Senator Romney spoke with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller and Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen regarding the current situation and the path forward. Following the administration's briefing, Senator Romney spoke to KSL's Lee Lonsberry. The full interview can be heard below:





Senator Romney has long advocated for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes that incentivize youth to vape. Following the administration's temporary flavor ban, the Senator spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Azar regarding efforts to address the youth vaping effort. 



Full story by Matthew Perrone here.



Former Senator Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles this week announced their support for Senator Romney’s TRUST Act, legislation he introduced with Senator Manchin (D-WV) to rescue endangered federal trust funds. Simpson and Bowles led the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which was one of the last bipartisan efforts to reduce our national debt.



“It has been nine years since the Fiscal Commission we co-chaired released common sense comprehensive recommendations to fix the debt and to secure our major entitlement programs, those programs still remain in serious financial jeopardy. The Social Security, Medicare, and Highway Trust Funds are all predicted to be insolvent in the next 15 years, triggering deep across-the-board cuts in benefits. While most people in Washington would prefer to put – or leave! – their heads in the sand, the TRUST Act would create a truly bipartisan process to save these important programs. We know from personal experience that when Democrats, Republicans, and Independents honestly work together in good faith, they can identify real and lasting solutions: the Fiscal Commission recommendations were supported by 11 of 18 commissioners. We earnestly thank Senators Romney and Manchin, Representatives Gallagher and Case, and other co-sponsors for taking the lead on this important and vital effort. Time is running out to enact critical and thoughtful reforms to appropriately fund our infrastructure and return solvency to Social Security and Medicare.” – Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles





In many of Utah's rural communities, students don’t have access to broadband internet at school, effectively preventing them access to the resources they use to learn and succeed. Senator Romney joined a bipartisan group of colleagues in introducing the Connected Rural Schools Act, legislation to ensure broadband and other internet accessibility technologies are eligible for funding from the existing Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Program. This will enhance access to broadband communications in the rural parts of Utah that are currently underserved.