Following a recommendation by Senator Romney, President Biden has announced his intent to nominate Ann Marie McIff Allen to serve as United States District Court Judge for the District of Utah. Judge Allen is a graduate of Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and was appointed to the Fifth District Court—serving Iron, Beaver, and Washington counties—in August 2020 by Governor Gary R. Herbert.
As China and Russia continue to expand their military capabilities, it’s essential that we make substantial investments in our own military and other national defense priorities. This week, Senator Romney helped pass the annual defense authorization bill, which included several provisions he authored to address threats from foreign adversaries, support our servicemembers, and expand passport services in Utah. He also secured committee passage of two pieces of legislation aimed to help us better understand the impacts of smartphones in classrooms, and welcomed progress on two Utah natural resource priorities.
Senator Romney applauded the passage of two Utah priorities out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Recovery Act and the Great Salt Lake Stewardship Act.
Congress has passed the bipartisan and bicameral conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA), annual legislation that authorizes funding levels and provides authorities for the U.S. military and other critical defense priorities, ensuring America’s forces have the training, equipment, and resources they need to carry out their missions.
Senator Romney offered two amendments aimed at better understanding the impact of smartphones in the classroom to the Advancing Research in Education Act (AREA) during a Senate HELP Committee mark-up. Both amendments were unanimously approved by the Committee and were added to AREA, which subsequently passed out of HELP by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 20-1.
Senator Romney joined NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker to discuss negotiations on the Senate’s supplemental aid package, which he argued must include both border security and continued aid for Ukraine and Israel.
China has ambitions to overtake the United States as the global leader, and they’re well on track to do so. This week, Senator Romney pressed the Administration’s Deputy Secretary of State nominee to enact a comprehensive strategy to address the China threat. He also welcomed a major highway infrastructure investment coming to Iron County funded by the bipartisan infrastructure bill, introduced legislation to combat the financing of terrorist groups like Hamas, and met with leaders from Utah to advance priorities for our state.
Senator Romney applauded an announcement from the Department of Transportation that more than $70 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, negotiated by Romney and his colleagues, would be awarded to the Utah Department of Transportation for the I-15 South Iron County Freight, Mobility, and Safety Project.
Senators Romney, Warner (D-VA), Rounds (R-SD), and Reed (D-RI) introduced bipartisan legislation to crack down on terrorist organizations—like Hamas—by applying sanctions to foreign parties that facilitate financial transactions with terrorists. Currently, these sanctions are imposed only in limited circumstances, primarily on the terrorist group Hezbollah following passage of the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act in 2015.
At a Foreign Relations Committee nominations hearing today, the nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary of State committed to personally delivering a comprehensive China strategy to Senator Romney—legislation he secured into law as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022.
The United States’ public debt now exceeds $33.6 trillion, more than double what it was just 10 years ago! Without taking action now to tackle the debt, our country may find itself in a fiscal crisis akin to those of countries like Greece and Italy years ago. This week, Senator Romney continued to push forward his bipartisan Fiscal Stability Act, which aims to repair America’s broken finances, by testifying at the House Budget Committee hearing on the need for a fiscal commission.
There are some who argue that the United States should stop aiding Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s unprovoked invasion, and focus solely on our own interests here at home. That is a false and dangerous choice. We can and should do both.