Tag: Amy Klobuchar

Klobuchar Lays Out New Goals for Often Low-Key Rules Committee

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The panel typically focuses on the Senate’s inner workings, but its chairwoman, Amy Klobuchar, is seeking to transform it into a major force on voting rights.

WASHINGTON — The usually obscure Senate Rules Committee is the most insider of insider panels, typically responsible for doling out precious Capitol office space, keeping the Senate running and handling fights over arcane floor procedures.

But circumstances and the ambitions of the committee’s current chairwoman, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, have thrust the panel into the middle of things. In just six months, she has spearheaded a push for a sweeping voting rights bill sought by Democrats while her committee has investigated failings in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. The panel was also in charge of staging President Biden’s inauguration, only two weeks after the deadly riot.

“For so long people have been focused, understandably, on the inner workings of the Senate with the Rules Committee,” said Ms. Klobuchar, who answered with an emphatic “yes” when asked if she was trying to turn the panel into a force. “But the point is we have a bigger jurisdiction, and that’s our democracy.” Continue reading.

Sen. Klobuchar Statement on the For the People Act

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) issued the following statement on the For the People Act:

“While I am disappointed by Senator Manchin’s announcement, I will not give up the fight for voting rights reform. The For the People Act includes many broadly popular provisions that both Democrats and Republicans across the country support, including setting basic national standards to make sure all Americans can vote in the way that works best for them. This fight is not over, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to get critical voting, ethics, and campaign finance reforms passed in the Senate.”

THURSDAY: Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Keynote DFL Founders Day Dinner

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – On Thursday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will keynote the DFL Party’s 2021 Founders Day Dinner. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Governor Tim Walz will also be speaking during the event. 

Members of the media will be able to tune in to the virtual dinner at dfl.org/founders. We ask that you do not share this link with people outside of your media outlet. Members of the public looking for more information and to order tickets should visit www.dflfoundersday.com.

WHAT: A virtual fundraising dinner to celebrate the founding of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

WHO:

  • Governor Gretchen Whitmer
  • Governor Tim Walz
  • Senator Amy Klobuchar
  • Senator Tina Smith
  • DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin

WHEN: 5:30 PM on Thursday, June 3rd

WHERE: Virtual – members of the media can tune in at dfl.org/founders

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s big test: Shepherding election reform

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The Minnesota Democrat faces the mammoth task of leading the push for the sweeping legislation in the Senate. 

WASHINGTON – The massive election reform measure that Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is trying to shepherd through a crucial test in the Senate has all the makings of a moonshot: hard to achieve and fraught with complications.

For “anyone who is serious about trying to get something done to make it easier for people to vote … we’re ready to go,” Minnesota’s senior senator said in an interview.

Dubbed the For the People Act, the bill affects topics from voter registration to absentee ballots to campaign finance to ethics laws. Republicans charge that it’s an unconstitutional attempt by the federal government to wrest control of elections from states. Continue reading.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar faces down GOP barrage on voting rights act

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Republicans decry “false narrative” in push to guarantee ballot access. 

WASHINGTON – The debate over a massive federal voting rights act erupted in tense exchanges Wednesday as Sen. Amy Klobuchar faced withering GOP criticism that the changes would cause chaos and undermine states’ rights.

The Minnesota Democrat, a lead sponsor of the For the People Act, said at a hearing of the Rules Committee she chairs that the measure is essential as GOP legislators in states across the country have drafted more than 250 measures to restrict voting access. She pointed to the chaos of hourslong waits at polling places, new limitations on early voting and new restrictions on who can cast mail-in ballots.

“The bill simply tries to make it easier to vote,” Klobuchar said. “The For the People Act is the best chance to stop the rollback of voting rights.” Continue reading.

Klobuchar, Collins Introduce Legislation to Expand Training and Support Services for Families and Caregivers of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) reintroduced the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Act to expand training and support services for families and caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

More than six million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050 that number is expected to grow to 13 million. The nearly 11 million caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias report higher levels of stress and depression than those who provide care to individuals without dementia, which resulted in $11.4 billion in additional health costs for Alzheimer’s caregivers in 2017. This legislation would authorize grants to public and non-profit organizations to expand training and support services that improve caregiver health and delay long-term care facility admissions by keeping loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in their homes longer.

Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). Continue reading.

Klobuchar leads call for Biden to prioritize Violence Against Women Act programs in budget

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Biden was sponsor of measure in 1994 when it became law

Senate Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to provide strong backing for the Violence Against Women Act in his fiscal 2022 budget request, in light of increased reports of domestic violence during the pandemic and lack of supplemental funding for the law’s programs. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., along with 26 other Senate Democrats sent a letter to Biden on Friday, asking the president to prioritize support for Justice Department programs that provide services for survivors of gender-based violence in his fiscal 2022 budget request to Congress.

“We are very concerned that, as a result of the pandemic, cases of domestic violence and sexual assault have increased in communities across the country. Local law enforcement report more domestic violence-related calls and rape crisis centers are seeing increased need for services,” the senators wrote. “The pandemic has also made it more difficult for service providers to respond to the increased need for crisis intervention, legal services, and transitional housing.” Continue reading.

Amy Klobuchar shuts down a GOP senator spreading a ‘conspiracy theory’ at the Capitol riot hearing

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On Tuesday, members of the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection — and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin promoted a debunked conspiracy theory claiming that the insurrectionists were really left-wing militants. But Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a centrist Democrat, pushed back against that false claim.

According to far-right conspiracy theorists, members of Antifa attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 in order to make supporters of then-President Donald Trump look bad. But there is no evidence to support that claim, and the participation of QAnon, the Proud Boys, White nationalists, various militia groups and others on the far right has been well-documented. Axios’ Jonathan Swan, on Jan. 12, reported that when Trump floated that conspiracy theory, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pushed back and told him, “It’s not Antifa, it’s MAGA. I know. I was there.”

But Johnson, on Tuesday, promoted false claims that on Jan. 6, the U.S. Capitol Building was attacked by “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters.” And when Klobuchar spoke, she made it clear that she saw no validity in those claims. Continue reading.

For Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a speaking role in Biden’s inauguration

As top Democrat on Senate Rules Committee, Minnesota’s Klobuchar to be front and center at inauguration. 

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar plans to use her time on the national stage during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden to remind Americans after an extraordinary two weeks in Washington that democracy cannot be taken for granted.

“It’s on all of us to cherish it and to pass it on to the next generation,” Klobuchar said Tuesday, about 24 hours before her prominent speaking slot in the inaugural ceremony. “It is on all of us to take up its torch.”

As the ranking Democrat and soon-to-be chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, Klobuchar ended up as the lead Senate Democrat on the congressional planning committee for the inaugural ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol. Continue reading.

Rep. Tom Emmer will attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration — but still won’t call him president-elect

Emmer, Klobuchar sparred over election outcome on Thursday. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer refused again Thursday to refer to Joe Biden as president-elect, days after the Electoral College certified Biden’s victory and a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a GOP bid backed by Emmer to overturn it.

Making his first public comments since both developments, Emmer acknowledged the Electoral College’s recognition of Biden as the winner and said President Donald Trump’s options for challenging that outcome were “diminishing.”

But in a panel discussion with Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Emmer rebuffed attempts by moderator and CBS correspondent Major Garrett to refer to Biden as president-elect. Emmer instead said that Jan. 6, the date Congress will officially count the Electoral College’s votes, marks the end of the line. Continue reading.