I spoke on the Senate Floor in opposition to a Unanimous Consent request on the PUMP Act. The PUMP Act, while noble in nature, is an economy-sized approach without any flexibilities for non-stationary workplaces. Under this legislation, non-stationary workplaces, like railcars, must be retrofitted for breast feeding – this is simply unsustainable as we are already experiencing a supply chain crisis.

Legislative Actions:

• I joined my colleagues from the Wyoming delegation in sending a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) urging Secretary Buttigieg to make funds immediately available for the flooding in Yellowstone National Park
  
  • This letter calls on the DOT to quickly release emergency funds that will help expedite the recovery in and around Yellowstone National Park.
• I cosponsored a substitute amendment from U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which would provide increased funding for school security and mental health resources without proposing any gun control measures.
  
  • Children should feel safe in schools and parents should feel safe sending their children to school. There are ways to prevent further tragedies without trampling the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding people in Wyoming.
• I cosponsored S.4261, the FORMULA Act, which would target the supply chain disruption of infant formula by temporarily waiving current protectionist trade barriers, like tariffs and quotas, on importation that reduce the supply and increase the price of available foreign-made formula. The bill would also allow Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program recipients to use vouchers to purchase formula from any producer rather than be limited to the brand or product listed on specific vouchers—which may be unavailable.
  
  • This would allow Wyoming families to access safe and plentiful formula manufactured abroad while we continue to address manufacturing disruptions here at home.
• I, along with three Senators and nine Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan requesting he consider the facts surrounding digital asset mining, including use of renewables. This follows an April 2022 letter from other Members of Congress criticizing digital asset mining for its environmental impact.
  
  • There are huge economic benefits to digital asset mining companies coming to Wyoming. The EPA shouldn’t stifle that potential without understanding the full picture of the environmental impact, including the positive ways digital asset miners utilize renewable energy.

Committee Hearing:

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development

• Hearing on the semiannual monetary policy report to Congress with The Honorable Jerome H. Powell, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
• I questioned Chairman Powell about the authority disparities between the Federal Reserve and banks when it comes to master accounts. To watch this hearing, click here.

Major Votes:

• Final passage of S.2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Cornyn-Murphy Gun Safety Framework)
• Opposed
  • I was hopeful that the Senate would act to prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future by addressing mental health issues and ways to make our schools safer, but that simply did not happen. This legislation includes measures that infringe on the Second Amendment rights of lawfully abiding gun owners in Wyoming – something I will always oppose.

It has been brought to my attention that many folks in the state have been experiencing delays and cancellations to flights; not just due to weather, but for many unknown reasons. People in Wyoming have experienced this for months, but the issue has expanded to airports across the country over the past couple weeks. I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Times recently highlighting some solutions to help alleviate this issue. I also support Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposed Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act that would raise the retirement age for commercial airline pilots in the U.S. by at least two years, to 67. Legislation like this will help remedy the airline disruptions that we have experienced.

Media:

I joined Neil Cavuto on Fox Business to discuss rising gas prices and the Safer Communities Act.

News Around Wyoming:

BLM may exchange land with Wyoming ranch to create 10K-acre public access area in Campbell County
Oil City News
The Bureau of Land Management is looking at a possible land exchange with the Quarter Circle 7 Ranch in order to create a 10,347-acre contiguous block of public land in northwest Campbell County.

The proposed exchange would involve the ranch providing about 2,300 acres in exchange for scattered BLM-administered land parcels, BLM Wyoming said in a press release Wednesday. The agency has identified 4,678 acres of scattered parcels that could be used in different configurations to reach a final land exchange agreement with the Quarter Circle 7 Ranch. Not all 4,678 acres will necessarily be exchanged, as the BLM said only the amount needed to achieve equalized value would be given to the ranch.

Yellowstone National Park partially reopens after floods
NPR
More than a week after catastrophic floods closed Yellowstone National Park, it partially reopened on Wednesday. Despite some major roads still being washed out, three of the massive park's five entrances opened this morning, to lines hundreds of cars long.

The traffic was so bad in the adjacent town of West Yellowstone, Mont., that the park let people in a little before the official morning opening time. But the number of people being allowed in is being limited for now, with hopes that more park roads will open in early July.

Wyoming Game & Fish Implements Partial Fire Ban in Platte County
KGAB
In conjunction with the fire ban issued by the Board of Platte County Commissioners Tuesday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is implementing a partial fire ban on Game and Fish Commission-owned and managed lands within the county, effective immediately.

Affected areas include Cottonwood Draw Wildlife Habitat Management Area as well as Wheatland Reservoir #1/ Rock Lake, Grayrocks Reservoir, and North Platte River Public Access Areas. "Under a partial ban it is permissible to have contained campfires only within an established fire ring, and to use gas grills and charcoal, all with proper means to extinguish a fire nearby," the WGFD said in a news release.

Wyoming's congressional delegation blasts U.S. land buy in Natrona and Carbon counties
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
The federal government, already under scrutiny for a record purchase of land in Wyoming, got more heat Thursday, this time from the state's entire congressional delegation.

In a new letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., voiced similar concerns to those from Gov. Mark Gordon. Last week, the governor's office said it was asking a federal panel to block the Bureau of Land Management's purchase of Marton Ranch land in Natrona and Carbon counties.

Wyoming’s fire season will likely be above average
Wyoming Public Media
Wyoming’s State Forester is concerned about the upcoming fire season. Bill Crapser said he expects an above average fire season from July through October. Crapser told Wyoming Public Radio that the biggest area of concern is the southern part of the state.

“The Laramie Peak, and then the prairie to the north and the east of that is looking where it probably has the most potential,” said Crapser. “That can change with some good storms and some good rain. But that's kind of where we're really focusing a lot of concern.”