FACT: All North Dakota Families Deserve Access to Affordable Health Care

Last week in Bismarck, I sat down with North Dakota families and individuals who could be devastated with the prospect of losing access to health care coverage due to the administration's efforts to take away health care protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

FIGHTING FOR NORTH DAKOTANS WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will not actively defend in court critical health care protections for those with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, or pregnancy. Without affordable health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, over 300,000 North Dakotans like Karalee, Annelise, Chris, and Sam could lose access to affordable health care or see their premiums skyrocket. Last week in Bismarck, I brought together families and children with pre-existing conditions to hear about how important it is for them to get reliable health coverage. Click here to hear more from our North Dakota neighbors about why affordable health care coverage is so important. In my recent op-ed, read the story of Kathryn and her daughter, Valerie, from Mandan. And in a podcast interview with Politico's Dan Diamond this week, I spoke about the need to protect those with pre-existing conditions and promote stronger access to high-quality health care across our rural communities. 

PUSHING FOR A STRONG, BIPARTISAN FARM BILL THAT WORKS FOR NORTH DAKOTA PRODUCERS AND PROVIDES CERTAINTY AMID A TRADE WAR. The first official meeting of the Farm Bill conference committee— on which I'm one of nine U.S. senators  taking part in negotiations— will take place on September 5. I'm working hard to make sure we have a final Farm Bill completed before the current bill expires at the end of September, as I pointed out in my op-ed in the Grand Forks Herald. Earlier this month, I met with North Dakota farmers, ranchers, commodity groups, and community leaders in Rugby to continue my discussions across the state about my ongoing work on the 2018 Farm Bill, the priorities for North Dakota agriculture that I successfully secured in the bipartisan Senate Farm Bill, and to hear concerns from farmers and manufacturers about the impacts of the administration's escalating trade war. Read more about my Rugby discussion in the Pierce County Tribune, and read my Medium Post on the concrete and commonsense actions I'm taking to help protect our state's crop and livestock producers from the negative impacts of a trade war.  

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT THE ESCALATING TRADE WAR: "As farmers we understand that we need to get more equitable trade, but we feel like we’re really the pawn in the administration’s negotiation. What is the goal? It certainly does not feel like we’re winning right now when we look at what’s happened to soybean prices, specifically in North Dakota where our soybeans go to China.” - Ryan Pederson, Vice President, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association

On Monday, I helped host Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson to view the first civil beyond visual line of sight flight to be conducted from Grand Sky aviation park. As a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I pushed the FAA to approve the two-year Certificate of Authorization to help strengthen North Dakota’s role in the development of UAS research, training, and integration.

ON MONDAY, I JOINED AIR FORCE SECRETARY HEATHER WILSON IN GRAND FORKS. It was an honor to help host Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson view Grand Sky Business and Aviation Park's historic first civil beyond visual line of sight test flight. The demonstration reinforces that Grand Forks continues to be a world class unmanned aerial systems (UAS) innovation hub, and on Monday morning I spoke to UAS industry leaders about how North Dakota will continue to lead the nation in UAS development. Additionally, I had a great visit at Grand Forks Air Force Base with Secretary Wilson, where we met with base officials and were updated on base operations and the ongoing Global Hawk UAS mission that provides essential intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to combatant commanders across the globe that keeps American families strong and safe. Click here to read an Air Force Magazine article from earlier this year that details how I pushed for the Grand Sky lease in collaboration with the Air Force.  

PODCAST— HOW IMPORTANT IS THE FARM BILL TO NORTH DAKOTA? On the latest episode of my podcast, "The Hotdish," I interview Tom Vilsack— former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa— and Ryan Pederson— a North Dakota farmer and Vice President of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. Together, we talk about discuss the 2018 Farm Bill’s wide-ranging impact on rural America, from crop insurance and safety net programs to rural development and nutrition assistance. Vilsack and Pederson also shared their concerns about the administration’s trade war and the economic uncertainty it is causing farmers and ranchers.Click here to listen. 

MAKING SURE THE VOICES OF WORKERS & RETIREES ARE HEARD. After the fifth Joint Pensions Committee hearing in July, I wanted to give workers and retirees from around the country a platform to share their stories and explain how the multiemployer pension crisis will impact them and their families if Congress doesn’t act. On Friday, I facilitated a Facebook live in Fargo  to make sure folks in North Dakota have the same opportunity to share their stories about how devastating it would be for them to lose their pensions. And as a member of the 16-person bipartisan committee tasked with solving this crisis, I’m pushing for my Butch Lewis Act to be part of the legislative fix to this mess.

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