U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week reintroduced the Sister City Transparency Act, a bill aimed toward addressing geostrategic scheming, particularly by China.
“Sister cities” are municipalities that enter into diplomatic relationships with localities abroad to facilitate cultural and economic exchange. But, the senator told The Tennessee Star, China is using these arrangements to advance propaganda and exert political pressure.
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Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson wrote jointly with several colleagues to President Joe Biden this week urging him to reverse major elements of his anti-fossil-fuel agenda.
The letter from the senators takes issue with several actions the White House has taken to hinder investment in and use of oil, natural gas and coal in an effort the administration insists is important to lessening global warming.
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U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined several colleagues to introduce the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act to halt the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion services. “Sixty percent of Americans oppose their tax dollars being used to fund abortions,” Blackburn said in a press release. “We should honor their wishes by ending the use of public funds. The pro-life community should not be forced to directly or indirectly fund this abhorrent practice.” Co-sponsors are U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). The House version is H.R. 833, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-04). The Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act is supported by the Susan B. Anthony List. In January, Blackburn introduced her first bill in the Senate, The Tennessee Star reported. That bill – S. 105, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act – would strips all abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, of federal funding under Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Of the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act, Cramer said, “Abortion providers do not deserve taxpayer subsidies. While current law prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions, companies like Planned Parenthood still receive millions of…
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by Whitney Tipton Several GOP senators expressed concern Tuesday over Trump’s selection of Herman Cain for the Federal Reserve Board, casting doubt that the former GOP presidential candidate will be formally nominated. Two Republicans raising issues, Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer and Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, are members of the Banking Committee, whose nomination hearing would be a critical step prior to full Senate chamber consideration, should Cain be formally named. “It’s hard for me to imagine he’d be confirmed,” said Cramer in comments made to reporters after a closed-door Senate GOP meeting, according to The Wall Street Journal. Cramer has questioned Cain’s fitness because of sexual harassment allegations made against him. “That’s a very big problem for me—I think for a lot of people, and rightfully so.” Scott, another Banking Committee member, downplayed the harassment issue, “That’s a part of what I need to look at.” Scott added that Cain was “obviously qualified” for the position because of his experience on the Kansas City Fed and that the “question is what is the entire portfolio of his activities and interests and challenges,” The WSJ reported. Cain, also a former pizza chain CEO and unsuccessful U.S.…
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A new poll shows that Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) now has a staggering 16-point lead over incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) in North Dakota’s Senate race. According to a recent poll conducted by KVLY, KFYR, and Strategic Research Associates, Cramer leads Heitkamp 56 percent to 40 percent among likely voters. Of those voters, just 37 percent have a favorable opinion of the incumbent, compared to 53 percent who view the Republican favorably. The number of voters who view Heitkamp unfavorably has increased from 41 percent to 52 percent since September—before she voted against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Senator Heitkamp appears to have been hurt by her vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as subsequent campaign missteps widely covered in the media,” Strategic Research Associates Partner James Henson commented. According to the poll, North Dakota voters ranked Kavanaugh’s nomination the fourth most important issue heading into the midterms. Among Heitkamp’s “missteps” was her recent outing of numerous sexual-assault victims without their consent in an open letter to her Republican opponent. Heitkamp published the letter in an effort to paint Cramer as unsympathetic to the concerns of 120 victims who signed the letter, though many…
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