Senator Romney joined KSL Sunday Edition with Boyd Matheson for a wide-ranging interview to discuss the issues impacting Utah, as well as some of the biggest challenges facing our nation—both at home and abroad.
Senator Romney this week continued to highlight how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the bipartisan infrastructure bill he negotiated with colleagues, is benefitting Utah’s communities.
In an effort to prevent money laundering and stop crypto-facilitated crime and sanctions violations, Senators Romney (R-UT), Reed (D-RI), Rounds (R-SD), and Warner (D-VA) introduced the Crypto-Asset National Security Enhancement and Enforcement (CANSEE) Act. This bipartisan legislation requires decentralized finance (DeFi) services to meet the same anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance obligations as other financial companies, including centralized crypto trading platforms, casinos, and even pawn shops.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to advance provisions secured by Senator Romney to improve passport services during a business meeting to consider the Department of State Authorization Act of 2023—continuing his longstanding efforts to bring a passport agency to Salt Lake City and improve Utahns’ access to consular services.
The Utah Congressional delegation has announced its full support of the Direct Capital Access (DCA) Act, legislation to add 28 additional in-and beyond-perimeter flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in the 2023 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill. Senator Romney today joined on as co-sponsor of the Senate’s version of the DCA Act, which was originally introduced by Rep. Owens (R-UT) in the House.
Senator Romney joined his colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to take immediate action to resolve the massive, unacceptable backlog of passport applications. In the letter, the senators note countless reports from Americans in their states regarding issues and concerns with delayed wait times, lack of available in-person appointments, and an inability to communicate with passport agencies.
Senator Romney, along with Senators Coons (D-DE), Dr. Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Cornyn (R-TX), and Blumenthal (D-CT), introduced the bipartisan Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA), a bill that would require social media companies to share more data with the public and researchers.
Senator Romney and Lee’s University of Utah Research Park Act passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a unanimous vote. This bill would preserve the University of Utah’s nearly 600-acre research park and avoid possible action by the Bureau of Land Management to repurpose the land. Research Park is a center for research and development serving both the University and the local workforce.
Senator Romney toured Utah businesses and met with local leaders to discuss Utah’s water challenges. Romney started the day at OxEon Energy in North Salt Lake, where he toured the firm’s facility and met with employees. He then visit Bonnell Aluminum in Clearfield for a meeting with their executive board about the company’s efforts to shore up our supply chains, followed by a discussion with its workers. Romney ended the day at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District for a roundtable discussion with local leaders about the Jordan River Watershed and the Great Salt Lake.
Senator Romney welcomed more than 70 Utah veterans to Washington, D.C., for their Honor Flight, meeting at the World War II Memorial. The Utah Honor Flight group included veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Cold War, and Desert Storm.
The Utah Congressional delegation sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken raising concerns over extreme delays in the processing of passports. Additionally, the Delegation renewed its request for the State Department to open a passport agency in Salt Lake City to give Mountain West residents an in-person option for passport services.
Senator Romney joined Senator Mike (R-IN) and Senators Scott (R-FL), Todd (R-IN), Capito (R-WV), Moran (R-KS), and Risch (R-ID) in re-introducing a bill to prevent the IRS from being used as a political weapon against conservative non-profit groups.