Press Releases

Hawley Urges Postal Service to Prioritize Rebuilding Post Office Destroyed in Baring, Mo., Tornado

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy of the United States Postal Service (USPS) seeking an update on the status of the Post Office in Baring, Mo., after it was destroyed by a tornado on August 4, 2023. "Losing a functioning Post Office is more than an inconvenience for Baring’s citizens. They risk losing access to reliable medical delivery, payment disbursements, and indispensable communications," wrote Senator Hawley. He continued, "United States Postal Service (USPS) should prioritize rebuilding this critical infrastructure as soon as possible to ensure the people of Baring promptly regain access to deliveries and other vital services that they depend on." Read the full letter here or below....

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Biden Backs Hawley-Luján Legislation to Provide Aid to Victims of Nuclear Contamination

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) issued the following statement after President Biden endorsed Senator Hawley’s legislation to compensate victims of government-caused nuclear contamination originating from the Manhattan Project. Senator Hawley’s legislation was adopted by the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in July. The legislation was introduced with support from Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).   Senator Hawley said: “Compensating victims of government-caused nuclear contamination and negligence should not be a partisan issue. It’s about justice. I am glad President Biden has announced his support of our amendment, but now we need action. This amendment must be included in the final...

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SOON: Hawley Secures Vote on Amendment to Provide Funding for Victims of STL Region Nuclear Contamination

This afternoon, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will bring up his amendment for a full U.S. Senate vote, extending the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include victims of Manhattan Project contamination in the St. Louis region. Remarks will be livestreamed here. WHO: Senator Josh Hawley WHAT: Vote on Senator Hawley's amendment to the NDAA, support for victims of nuclear contamination in the STL region WHEN: Today, July 27, 2023 at approximately 4:00 pm ET WHERE: U.S. Senate Chamber  BACKGROUND Senator Hawley's amendment would:   Extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to cover victims of improperly stored Manhattan Project waste in St. Louis, MO.   Provide RECA compensation to those...

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Senate Adopts Hawley Legislation Providing Funding for Victims of STL Region Nuclear Contamination

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) legislation to compensate victims of government-caused nuclear contamination in the greater St. Louis area was adopted by the U.S. Senate. The legislation took the form of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Senator Hawley's legislation was co-sponsored by Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). "For fifty years, fifty years the federal government has put into the water, into the soil, into the air of St. Louis and surrounding regions radioactive nuclear material,"said Senator Hawley. "They have not told the people of St. Louis. They have not compensated the people of St. Louis. They have not helped the people of St. Louis." He continued, "Mr. President, it...

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Hawley, Blumenthal Hold Hearing On Principles For Regulating Artificial Intelligence

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, held a hearing on the guiding principles for regulating artificial intelligence (A.I.) moving forward. Senator Hawley questioned leaders in the A.I. space—including Dario Amodei, Cofounder and CEO of Anthropic, Yoshua Bengio, Professor at the Université de Montréal, and Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley—on the role of Big Tech in smaller A.I. development firms, the importance of safeguarding our A.I. supply chains, and the issue of offshoring of A.I.-related jobs. "For my part, I have expressed my own sense of what our priorities ought to be when it comes to...

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Hawley Demands DOE Improve Nuclear Contamination Cleanup Efforts at Weldon Spring Site

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm, urging the Department conduct additional testing for radioactive contamination at a site in St. Charles County, Mo. After a review of the Weldon Spring site in 2021, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources offered an extensive critique of the DOE's cleanup and monitoring efforts at that location. These concerns were recently made public. "On May 27, 2021, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources submitted extensive comments on the Department’s Weldon Spring Site Draft Sixth Five-Year Review," wrote Senator Hawley. "That review [...] aimed to analyze the state of contamination at the Weldon Spring site. In those comments, the Missouri...

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Hawley Urges Senate Hearing on Government-Caused Nuclear Contamination in the St. Louis Region

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), urging him to convene a committee hearing to discuss the government-caused nuclear contamination of the St. Louis area as well as the steps that involved government agencies are taking to remediate the area. “Last week, new reports provided stunning information about radioactive contamination in the St. Louis area resulting from the Manhattan Project.  These reports reveal that contamination in the St. Louis area may prove to be among the most significant government-caused environmental disasters in our nation’s history," wrote Senator Hawley. "What’s worse, it’s now clear that the Federal government knew about the contamination but failed...

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Hawley, Gillibrand to Introduce Landmark Bill Banning Stock Trading and Ownership by Congress, Executive Branch Officials and Their Families

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will introduce the bipartisan Ban Stock Trading for Government Officials Act. The legislation would create stringent stock trading bans and disclosure requirements for Congress, senior executive branch officials, and their spouses and dependents. The bill bans stock trading, stock ownership, and blind trusts; imposes heavy penalties for executive branch stock trading; requires reporting of federal benefits; creates additional transparency in financial disclosure reports; and increases transaction report penalties under the original STOCK Act. "Politicians and civil servants shouldn’t spend their time day-trading and trying to make a profit at the expense of the American...

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Hawley Urges Action on Law Requiring ‘Duck Boat’ Safety Regulations

Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan calling for the law requiring new safety standards for DUKW amphibious vehicles, also known as “duck boats,” to be properly implemented. New standards are intended to help prevent future tragedies following the 2018 accident on Table Rock Lake that claimed the lives of 17 people. "When I joined the Senate, one of the first bills I introduced was the Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act of 2020. This legislation aimed to prevent similar accidents in the future by requiring amphibious vehicles meet minimum buoyancy requirements, weather preparedness standards, and new canopy regulations," wrote Senator Hawley. "It is critically important that we ensure the safety of...

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NEW: Senator Hawley Demands USACE, DOE, and EPA Answer for St. Louis Contamination

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent separate letters to United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan demanding answers on nuclear contamination in the St. Louis region. Senator Hawley's letters followed a disturbing new report of a decades-long effort to downplay and conceal the risks of radioactive contamination in St. Louis, Missouri. The report verified that the federal government and companies responsible for Manhattan Project nuclear testing in the St. Louis area, "were aware of health risks, spills, improperly stored contaminants and other problems but often ignored them." On...

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