Presidents are elected to defend the security the country, says Sen. Steve Daines, Republican member of the Homeland Security Committee.

This week, one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees ever nominated to the bench, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Other than sending our sons and daughters to war, confirming a Supreme Court Justice is the most consequential vote I will take as a United States Senator. For Montana, and the rest of the nation, the impacts of this decision will last forever — because while laws come and go, judges serve for a lifetime. That’s why it’s critical we confirm the right person to serve on our nation’s highest court.

Montanans overwhelmingly want a Supreme Court Justice with impeccable academic credentials, someone who does not legislate from the bench, but upholds the rule of law and who follows the Constitution. Judge Kavanaugh is without a doubt that person.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Judge Kavanaugh in my office. I can say with full confidence, Judge Kavanaugh should be — and is ready to be — our next Supreme Court Justice.

Montana Sen. Steve Daines said Friday that the state and federal governments need to better manage forests to reduce the risk and severity of wildfires.

Daines pushed that message at a roundtable discussion at the Baxter Hotel in Bozeman along with members of the Senate Western Caucus and other agencies across the state.

Daines apologized to the group inside the hotel for the haze that covered the view of the Bridger Mountains because of wildfire smoke. Years ago, he said, if you came to Montana in August the horizon was clear. That was around the same time the state had about 30 active sawmills, Daines said, noting that there were only eight in Montana now.

“That probably says it all,” Daines told the crowd. “We’re not doing the active forest management like we used to.”

The Republican senator brought the caucus to Bozeman for a “hands-on” approach and to hear input on issues like the farm bill, agriculture production, national park maintenance backlogs and natural resource development. Several groups attended the meeting including the Montana Mining Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Boone and Crockett Club.

Two Montana groups will share $100,000 in federal grants to focus on local drug crises and emerging drug abuses, Sen. Steve Daines said Friday.

The Substance Abuse Prevention Alliance in Great Falls and the Lincoln County Unite for Youth Coalition will each get $50,000 for communities’ efforts to combat local drug use, especially among youth.

“Montana’s meth and drug epidemic has taken lives and destroyed families,” Daines, R-Mont., said. “These critical funds will help Montana combat drug use and rebuild impacted communities.”

Daines said Montana had a 427 percent increase in methamphetamine violations from 2010-2015 and the 11 drug task forces in the state all reported meth as the primary drug encountered.

He also noted that 46 percent of children’s out-of-home placements with Montana’s child protective services agency that have parental substance use indicated involve meth, more than double the rate of any other drug.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) gave an exclusive interview to Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House Tuesday on Capitol Hill, discussing the successful push to get Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the Senate’s August recess to continue to pursue the Republican legislative agenda and confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees.

“I spent 28 years in the private sector before coming to Congress. I’ve never heard of such a thing as taking a month off in the summertime, an August recess,” Daines, who served as a senior executive both with consumer goods giant Proter & Gamble and Montana tech success story RightNow Technologies, told House. “If you’re gonna drain the swamp, you’ve gotta keep the pumps running in August. Let’s stay here, do the work of the people.”

Daines made an analogy to his wife’s experience as a first grade teacher. “If the kids aren’t behaving well, you cancel recess. Arguably, the Senate’s not behaving. We’ve got a backlog of 260 nominations for President Trump we’ve got to get completed,” he said.

Sen. Steve Daines is urging U.S. Air Force officials to consider Malmstrom Air Force Base as a future site for the B-21 bomber.

The Montana Republican made his suggestion Thursday to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on the Air Force budget.

He said Gen. David Goldfein spoke in September about the strategic advantages and budgetary efficiencies of having Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) assets and long-range bombers both located at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

“I find that argument very compelling and believe the same advantages could be attained at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana,” Daines said.

He said much of the B-21 bomber development has been shrouded in secrecy, “and for good reason.”

Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines is among a group of senators calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the five-week August recess in order to get what he called a backlog of work done before the Sept. 30 budget deadline.

“If we are complicit, we are on track for another last-minute spending battle come September,” the 16 senators wrote in their May 10 letter to McConnell, R-Kentucky. “However, if we take action now, we can break the cycle of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending deals.”

In a telephone call Wednesday from Washington, D.C., with Montana reporters, Daines said the Senate has 12 weeks to get a dozen appropriation bills out of committee and on to the floor and to vote on 276 nominations.

“It’s hard to find a good rationale or argument for why we recess Congress when there is so much work that remains to be done,” Daines said.

This week, the U.S. Senate passed Senator Steve Daines’ bill to recognize May 5th as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. 

Daines introduced the legislation to honor the memory of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who was murdered in July 2013. The resolution commemorates the lives of all American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered.

“Tragically, Hanna Harris is just one of the many native women who go missing or are senselessly murdered,” said Daines. “We must do more to call attention to this epidemic and protect vulnerable communities.”

Recognized by a leading research institute, Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., has one of the top records of bipartisanship in the Senate.

“Montanans expect their representatives to work across the aisle to do what’s right for our state and our country,” Daines said. “Some folks in Washington are only concerned about toeing the party line and doing what will secure them re-election. It doesn’t matter to me if you have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ behind your name – if you have good ideas that help grow jobs, reduce regulatory burdens facing hardworking families, or make our government more efficient, I am happy to roll up my sleeves and work together to get things done.”

The Lugar Center and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy recognized Daines in its Bipartisan Index as having one of the strongest record of working across the aisle in the Senate. Daines ranked 13th for bipartisanship among his Senate colleagues.

Sen. Steve Daines on Thursday sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of Libby, asking the agency to ensure that local government or homeowners are not held liable for future cleanup costs related to the Asbestos Superfund site.

The letter comes after Daines visited Libby on April 14, when he sat down with local leaders at Hav-A-Java coffeeshop to discuss ongoing planning for the site’s operations and maintenance phase.

“I heard directly from Lincoln County leaders regarding their concerns that property owners and local government could be held liable for future clean-up costs of the Libby Asbestos Superfund site,” Daines said in a prepared statement. “I’ve asked the EPA to work with local officials and community leaders before making any consequential decisions regarding a long-term maintenance plan for the site.”

In his letter, addressed to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Daines wrote that “my constituents have a strong desire to have their input taken into account in the development of EPA’s O&M plan for the site.”