Newsletters

America’s ascent was improbable: our founding was based on a war nearly lost, a set of Articles of Confederation that failed, a Constitution that was barely ratified, and a terrible second war with Great Britain. Less than a century later, we succumbed to a great civil war that claimed more than 600,000 lives.Nevertheless, America not merely endured, but achieved a level of greatness and goodness never before seen in human history. This tradition continues today—I have seen the greatness of the American spirit time and again. We innovate, we persevere, we overcome.

Passport demand in Utah is enormous, due in part to our population growth and global missionary efforts. After a years-long push by Senator Romney, the State Department announced that a passport agency is coming to Salt Lake City to provide Utahns with improved, in-person services. Senator Romney also advanced another major priority by introducing bipartisan legislation that would help prevent wildfires and expedite federal resources for when they strike. His bill incorporates recommendations made by a wildfire commission he secured into law in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

A lack of adequate safeguards against unlawful employment in the U.S. job market is one of the leading causes of illegal immigration. To address this, Senator Romney introduced bipartisan legislation to mandate that all employers only hire legal workers. He also introduced several bipartisan bills to strengthen America’s national security amid increased threats from terrorist organizations and China, and garnered support for his bill to bring Utah’s successful workforce program model nationwide.

America leads the free world, drawing strength from its alliances and partnerships. And it’s these relationships that are critical in addressing the growing threats we face from authoritarians. This week, Senator Romney pressed the Administration to deliver a comprehensive strategy on China and encouraged a NATO ally to boost its defense spending to meet commitments. On the domestic policy front, the Senator urged the Administration to withdraw a disastrous student loan bailout rule and called for stronger action to address Utah’s drought—consulting with water scarcity experts

On May fifth, Sergeant Bill Hooser of the Santaquin Police Department was killed in the line of duty. His sacrifice is an important reminder to all of us. Every single day, our men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line to protect our communities. This week, Senator Romney saw the resolution he cosponsored commemorating National Police Week unanimously pass the Senate. He also led a hearing on reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government and introduced legislation to reauthorize funding for poison control centers.

In just over a decade, cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits will happen automatically—and the longer we wait to fix these programs, the worse it will get. This week, Senator Romney renewed calls for bipartisan action on the country’s wilting entitlement programs—including his legislation to create a bipartisan fiscal commission to tackle the burgeoning national debt before it’s too late. He also introduced bills to require federal employees to return to in-person work and to improve U.S. coordination with our allies in the wake of China’s increased aggression, and met with several groups from Utah to discuss important priorities for our state.

Countering the China threat, tackling the national debt, and mitigating wildfires have been among Senator Romney’s top priorities since the beginning of his Senate term. This week, Senator Romney continued to advance these efforts. He led a hearing on U.S. policy in Taiwan and China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, was recognized for his efforts to lower the public debt and stabilize the nation’s finances, and met with fire chiefs from Utah as he works to craft modernized wildfire legislation. He also pressed federal agencies on their inaction to understand and contain the recent outbreak of the bird flu virus.

Foreign adversaries and terrorists could misuse extremely powerful AI models of the future to develop biological, chemical, cyber, or nuclear weapons. This week, Senator Romney led a bipartisan effort to establish federal oversight over these advanced AI models to prevent this technology from being misused by bad actors to develop weapons that could threaten our national security or humanity at large. Senator Romney also met with groups of Utahns who were visiting Washington.

As China continues its quest to become the global superpower, the United States must remain diligent about safeguarding American technology. This week, Senator Romney focused on strengthening export controls enforcement—a key national security tool—to help ensure U.S. technology is not acquired or used by our adversaries. He introduced legislation to support interagency enforcement efforts and led an Emerging Threats Subcommittee hearing with Administration witnesses on the topic. Also critical to managing the emergence of China is the U.S. alliance with Japan. Upon Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to Washington, Senator Romney introduced a resolution underscoring the strength and importance of this alliance.

While Congress worked to keep the federal government funded, Senator Romney continued working toward safeguarding the United States from threats related to the rise of China. He introduced bipartisan legislation to counter the national security risks associated with our economic entanglement with China and led a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing to learn more about how the U.S. government can prevent fentanyl, and the precursor chemicals used to make it, from entering the country—primarily from China and Mexico. Senator Romney also received an award for his efforts to modernize federal wildfire policies.

Capitol Hill was abuzz this week as groups from all over the country flew in for their spring “fly-ins” to meet with their senators and representatives. Senator Romney met with many local leaders from cities and towns throughout Utah who were in Washington to advocate for their priorities that can be addressed at the federal level. The President also released his proposed budget—an unserious proposal filled with gimmicks—which Senator Romney chastised at a Budget Committee hearing. Senator Romney also led a committee hearing focused on modernizing wildfire policies based off of the recommendations of his Wildland Fire Commission.

This week, Senator Romney had the privilege of welcoming several groups of Utahns to Washington to discuss priorities like veterans care, transportation, water supply, and economic prosperity. He also helped introduce legislation to overturn a Biden Administration rule that would harm Utah’s gig-worker economy, continued efforts to address our current military recruitment crisis, and saw his bill to protect Americans’ health data from foreign adversaries advance in Committee. Last night, Senator Romney shared his thoughts on the President’s State of the Union address.