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May 1 – May 8, 2023
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The national debt continues to grow at an alarming rate, which poses significant risks to our country’s economic stability and national security, and could jeopardize our ability to make due on programs like Medicare and Social Security. Solving the debt crisis has long been a priority of Senator Romney, and this week he called on his colleagues to move past partisanship and toward compromise. The Senator also helped introduce key pieces of legislation concerning China, public lands, and education. When he returned home to Utah at the end of the week, he met with businesses and local leaders to discuss clean energy, trade, and long-term solutions to the drought. Keep scrolling for more news.
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The American people expect members of Congress to work on a bipartisan basis to address the challenges our country faces. At a Budget Committee hearing to discuss the recent House-passed bill that raises the debt limit and reduces spending, Senator Romney criticized the politicization of our country’s fiscal situation. Instead of constantly posturing and pointing fingers, elected officials need to put partisan games aside and come together to tackle our growing debt crisis. The $1 trillion in debt being added each year poses great risk to the U.S. economy and ultimately jeopardizes our national security.
Full story by Gitanjali Poonia here.
Our nation’s veterans—and the profound respect for our country and its founding principles they hold—are truly inspiring. Senator Romney had the honor of meeting with Utah veterans at the World War II Memorial during their Honor Flight Trip to offer his gratitude for their service and sacrifices.
The coming generations will spend their entire lives paying taxes to pay down the interest on today's borrowing. Now that the House has passed a bill which raises the debt ceiling and includes a reduction in spending, it's time for President Biden to sit down and negotiate.
Senator Romney joined KSL Sunday Edition with Doug Wright to discuss the ongoing debate around raising the debt ceiling and the reality of what will happen if the U.S. defaults, reminding the President that it cannot just be Democrats’ way or the highway.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill was crafted to help our country to meet the infrastructure-related challenges of the 21st century, and Senator Romney played a key role in leading negotiations to secure needed resources for Utah. The Department of Transportation announced that the Utah Transit Authority would be awarded $60 million for its Light Rail Vehicle Replacement Project as part of the Federal Transit Authority’s (FTA) Rail Vehicle Replacement program. The FTA program—established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—was designed to help transit agencies replace aging rail rolling stock, which would improve the reliability, safety, and accessibility of our country’s rail transit systems.
What you'll find in Utah is a business environment that's ripe for innovation, which is evident in Utah-based OxEon Energy's effort to create sustainable clean energy technologies. Senator Romney toured their manufacturing facility in North Salt Lake and met with their employees.
Three buzzwords, repeated by Administration officials, are not a sufficient strategy to address the growing threat China poses to the global order and freedom around the world. China's emergence as a great power is one of the most significant foreign policy challenges we face, especially because they don't play by the rules. The Administration must—by law—expand beyond words and develop a comprehensive China strategy with deep, granular, and tactical objectives.
Senator Romney led a hearing to consider the State Department’s FY 2024 Budget Request for East Asia and the Pacific. The 2022 NDAA included legislation from Romney requiring the Administration to create a grand China strategy. During the hearing, he urged witnesses to follow through on creating a strategy that is more comprehensive than principles that have been publicly outlined by officials, as well as bipartisan and lasting in nature.
As China’s predatory tactics in materials markets continue to threaten our industrial base, it is critical for our national security that American companies like Bonnell Aluminum can compete. Senator Romney visited their plant in Clearfield and met with their employees.
The U.S. must be present in Southeast Asia in order to effectively compete with China—and this means we must be working with our ASEAN partners to promote a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific region. Senator Romney joined Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Risch (R-ID), and Duckworth (D-IL) in applauding the Committee’s passage of their Providing Appropriate Recognition and Treatment Needed to Enhance Relations (PARTNER) with ASEAN Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen relations between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Although Utah has received historic moisture this winter—which supports our needs in the short-term—we can't lose sight of our long-term drought problem. Senator Romney met with local officials at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District West Jordan to discuss efforts to address these challenges, including sending water to the Great Salt Lake.
Utah’s public lands are best managed by our communities and the people closest to it—not unelected, federal bureaucrats. The Biden Administration’s newest Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule is detrimental to Utahns who rely on this land for recreation, forest management, and economic development. Senator Romney joined a group of colleagues, led by Senator Barrasso (R-WY) in introducing legislation to protect multiple use policy on federal lands. This legislation would block the BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule.
Although progress has been made on improving public health data reporting systems, major gaps still remain that could leave us unprepared for a future pandemic. We need accessible and reliable real-time data so we can better prepare for and potentially prevent major outbreaks. During a Health Committee hearing, Senator Romney discussed with Administration officials the need for increased public health data to better respond to future pandemics.
Wildfires pose great risks to our utilities infrastructure, which is critical to powering our homes and communities. Senator Romney met with members of the Northwest Public Power Association for a discussion on modernizing our wildfire strategy, including the work being done by the wildfire commission he helped secure into law.
With the rising costs of tuition, it is important for students and their families to have the most information available to them when deciding where to attend college and how much debt to assume. Senator Romney joined his colleagues in reintroducing the College Transparency Act (CTA), legislation which ensures that students and families have better information as they consider higher education opportunities. The CTA would modernize the college reporting system for postsecondary data by providing accurate reporting on student outcomes such as enrollment, completion, and post-college earnings across colleges and majors, while ensuring the privacy of individual students is securely protected.
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