Happy Monday!
Dear Fellow Republicans,
We wanted to provide you with a roundup of everything you might have missed from North Dakota’s great Republican leaders this past week. Please share with family and friends!
– Perrie Schafer, NDGOP Chairman
North Dakota
Company chooses Grand Forks as site for ‘historic’ agribusiness project
Grand Forks Herald
“Adding value to our corn and other raw commodities is critical to North Dakota’s long-term economic success, and this value-added project represents a huge opportunity for producers and workers in the Grand Forks area and our entire state,” Gov. Doug Burgum said.
Burgum to deliver State of the State address at special session
Minot Daily News
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will deliver his State of the State address to a special session of the 67th Legislative Assembly at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the House chamber of the State Capitol in Bismarck. The address will be livestreamed on the Legislature’s website at www.legis.nd.gov.
Biden sets vaccine mandate for Jan. 4, North Dakota joins suit against federal mandate
Williston Herald
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has said before he is pro-vaccine, but against federal overreach…“We contend the mandate violates the United States Constitution, including the 10th Amendment. We will be seeking an injunction to prohibit the implementation of this unlawful requirement,” he continued. Gov. Doug Burgum issued a statement in support of the suit.
Lt. Gov. speaks at CCC annual meeting
Hazen Star
North Dakota Lt. Governor Brent Sanford, who was the event’s lead speaker, said he has heard concerns from businesses about how COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandates might affect employees, operations and contracts…In addition to Sandford, the audience also heard the following presentations:…The … Changing Electric Generation Landscape” by North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Randy Christmann[.]
North Dakota AG upholds law against higher ed partnerships with abortion groups
Jamestown Sun
North Dakota’s top attorney Wayne Stenehjem is standing by a new law that prohibits higher education institutions from receiving state money from the Challenge Grant Fund if they partner with organizations that support abortion.
Some push back on Joe Biden’s plan to reduce methane emissions
Indian Country Today
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said there is no need for more regulations because it would drive energy production overseas.
State launches Name-A-Plow Contest, urges motorists to prepare for winter
The Bismarck Tribune
The state Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a Name-A-Plow Contest inviting people to submit name ideas for a snowplow in their home district…Gov. Doug Burgum has proclaimed this week as Severe Winter Weather Awareness Week.
Washington, D.C.
Legislation would improve access to state-owned minerals
Minot Daily News
Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and Congressman Kelly Armstrong this week introduced the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act, bicameral legislation to authorize the State of North Dakota to relinquish state-owned lands and minerals contained within tribal reservations and the Little Missouri National Grasslands to the U.S. Department of the Interior and, in exchange, receive federal land and minerals of equal value within North Dakota.
Republican Senators call for under-21 interstate truckers for ‘driver shortage’ relief
Overdrive
The letter said allowing 18-20-year-old CDL holders to drive interstate would “get American goods and services moving again.” A wave of retiring drivers “exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, produces severe consequences in an already delicate supply chain,” the Senators said…[S]enators who signed the letter include…Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota).
North Bakken Expansion Pipeline continues state’s energy leadership
Devils Lake Journal
“We need more pipelines to get energy to market. North Dakotans, along with the rest of the country, are facing skyrocketing energy bills, and this is just the type of energy development needed to help get utility bills under control,” Hoeven said. “That’s why we worked to advance this project’s approval at FERC and will continue working to provide the tax and regulatory certainty needed for companies to make critical investments like this.”
Sen. Cramer visits southern border
Minot Daily News
“They estimate there are about 400,000 ‘got-aways’, except those are the ones they know about. They actually estimate for every one of those there are about two more. You’re talking about double the population of North Dakota just as ‘got-aways’. If you take the 1.7 million [asylum seekers], and that’s three times the population of our state. That’s what they’re dealing with down there,” said Cramer.
GOP Senators Back Amendment to Ban Dishonorable Discharges for Troops Refusing Vaccine
Breitbart
A group of Republican senators are backing an amendment to annual must-pass defense legislation that would ban dishonorable discharges for troops who do not comply with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the military. Cramer said he has been hearing from his constituents who serve in the military, as well as some mothers of those serving. “They’re very concerned about this. It’s not a trifling matter to them. This is not some just sort of a macho standoff. This is heartfelt conscientious liberty issue. I mean, this is a big deal to them,” he said[.]
Democrats and Republicans vie to be ‘the party of parents’
The Christian Science Monitor
“I find that the government’s far less compassionate than the church, and in some situations, I think, compassion that comes from people of faith is oftentimes overlooked by our own government, particularly in recent years,” says GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who sits on the Senate Budget Committee chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders. “You’ve seen an increase in the government taking care of people and a decrease in the church taking care of those same people, either out of necessity or discouragement.”
North Dakota delegation objects to Biden, OSHA order on employer vaccine mandate
KFGO
“President Biden’s vaccine mandate on private businesses is serious government overreach that will further limit our economic recovery,” according to Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong...Hoeven and Cramer have signed on to a bill in the Senate that’s designed to nullify the executive order. A companion bill has been introduced in the House.
