ThinkProgress Logo

Stories tagged with “Jon Tester”

Security

Lawmakers Urge Obama To Bypass Congress To Confront Sexual Assault In The Military

By Hayes Brown on May 17, 2013 at 10:30 am

(Credit: AP)

The military’s sexual assault crisis has been in the headlines consistently for the past two weeks, leading two members of Congress to call on President Obama to take executive action and fix it.

Sen. John Tester (D-MT) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 earlier this year to help the victims of sexual assault receive benefits once they leave the military. At present, the burden of proof for victims of rape and sexual assault to qualify for disability benefits for conditions related to their trauma, including treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, is shockingly high, leaving many men and women unable to receive the care they need. A scheduled hearing on the bill was meant to take place on Wednesday, but has instead been delayed until June 3.

Rather than waiting for the Ruth Moore Act to pass, the bill’s sponsors sent Obama a letter on Thursday calling on him to use his authority as president to act now:

We commend your willingness to work with Congress to address the prevalence of sexual assault in the military. However, given the increasing rate of these assaults and the dramatic implications they are having on our service members, veterans, and their families, we strongly urge you to take further action to confront this crisis. In particular, you have the ability to provide justice for thousands of survivors of service-related sexual trauma by calling for more fairness in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims process, and increasing their ability to access the benefits they desperately need. [...]

Our legislation continues to garner support in Congress and has been endorsed by every major veterans’ service organization. Legislation, however, is not necessary to keep faith with these veterans. In 2010, the VA relaxed evidentiary standards to make it easier for combat veterans suffering from PTSD to get the disability benefits they need. It is past time the VA make a similar regulatory change for MST survivors. And you can direct them to do so.

Sexual assault and rape culture in the military has reached a tipping point in the last two weeks, with multiple stories about officials in positions to prevent assaults being charged or investigated for sexual assault themselves. “We’re losing the confidence of the women who serve that we can solve this problem,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said on Thursday. “That’s a crisis.”
Read more

LGBT

Jon Tester Joins Democratic Senators Coming Out For Marriage Equality

By Zack Ford on Mar 26, 2013 at 3:45 pm

Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) is the latest Democratic Senator to declare his full support for marriage equality:

Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families. How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I’m proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry.

Last May, after President Obama endorsed marriage equality, Tester balked, saying he supported civil unions but stood by Montana’s constitutional ban on recognizing same-sex marriages.

Tester joins Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in coming out for marriage equality in advance of the Supreme Court’s hearing of oral arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act.

Justice

The Simplest Way The Senate Could Increase Transparency And Save Money

By Josh Israel on Mar 12, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)

Sen. Jon Tester’s Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, S. 375, is the rare proposal that would both increase transparency and reduce federal spending. But despite bipartisan support and no obvious opposition, an identical bill died in the last Congress without ever coming up for a vote in a Senate paralyzed by GOP minority obstruction.

An arcane law still allows Senators and Senate candidates to file their campaign finance disclosure statements on paper with the Secretary of the Senate — unlike presidential candidates and campaigns for the House of Representatives — rather than electronically. As a result, those filings are less easily searchable for citizens and require additional processing by the Secretary’s office and the Federal Election Commission. According to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who backed the bill in 2012, the inefficiency costs taxpayers an estimated $430,000 annually.

“This common-sense bill allows folks to know right away who’s funding political campaigns and reflects the accountability and transparency Montanans expect from our elected officials and candidates for public office,” Tester explained in a press release announcing the 2013 version of the bill. “It’s 2013 and high-time for the Senate to bring its campaign finance reporting into the 21st century.” The bill has already attracted 28 co-sponsors, including five Republicans.

At a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing last year, Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the bill a “no-brainer.” Then-Ranking Member Alexander endorsed it and said it “would fix an obvious problem,” noting that the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) had blocked similar efforts in the past. But, despite his support, Alexander warned that unless Senators be given free reign to attach amendments dealing with “other problems in our current system Members might like to address,” it might not see the light of day for five years.

Due to the Senate’s rules, even non-controversial proposals and appointees can take days of the Senate’s floor time — and members of the minority can block votes on legislation they support unless they are allowed to propose unrelated measures. Though 71 Senators ultimately voted for cloture last month on the nomination of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the Republican minority filibustered the nomination and tied up the Senate for days. The watered-down filibuster reforms agreed to in January did little to address these problems.

As such, even important and non-controversial legislation like Tester’s Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act often fall by the wayside, as happened in 2012.

Rather that try to get a floor vote on small proposals like this, often the best hope is to attach them to larger bills. A spokeswoman for Sen. Tester told ThinkProgress that he hopes to include the bill as part of the FY 2014 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

The growing list of supporters of S. 375 includes Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Mark Begich (D-AK), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Johnny Isakson (D-GA), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Politics

Meet The NRA-Backed Senate Democrats Who Oppose Obama’s Gun Violence Prevention Plan

By Zack Beauchamp on Jan 17, 2013 at 1:15 pm

On Wednesday, President Obama unveiled a comprehensive plan to reform American gun laws and take action against the 32,000 firearm-inflicted deaths per year in the United States. His proposals ranged from stricter, universal background checks to more funding for police officers to expanding access to mental health care.

Yet a group of Senate Democrats, all of them highly rated by the National Rifle Association, are refusing to say if they support the President’s reform package. Below is a list of the Senators in question, how they’re rated by the NRA, and what they’ve said about gun law reform:

1. Max Baucus, Montana (NRA Rating: A+). Baucus appeared to oppose any federal action on gun law reform, saying in a statement that “Before passing new laws, we need a thoughtful debate that respects responsible, law-abiding gun owners in Montana instead of a one-size-fits all directives from Washington.”

2. Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota (NRA Rating: A). In a local television appearance before President Obama’s announcement, Heitkamp accused the White House of having ulterior motives besides preventing mass killing, claiming “There isn’t any amount of gun regulation or gun executive orders that will solve the problem of identifying people who could potentially do this and making sure they get the help and their families get the help so they don’ t do this. I’ve said it all along that this is wrong headed…I think it is an agenda driven by something other than school shootings.”

3. Tim Johnson, South Dakota (NRA Rating: A). Like Baucus, Johnson argued against federal solutions: “We in South Dakota have far fewer problems with guns than they do in New York or New Jersey and it makes common sense to not have one size fits all.”

4. Joe Donnelly, Indiana (NRA Rating: A). Donnelly simply said that “I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,” pointed to his NRA endorsement, and rejected the assault weapons ban plan of Obama’s proposal.

5. Mark Begich, Alaska (NRA Rating: A). Begich cited his support for mental health legislation, but demurred on gun restrictions, saying “there is no quick fix when it comes to keeping our families and communities safe. We must make smart investments to increase our safety while ensuring Americans’ Second Amendment rights are protected.”

6. Joe Manchin, West Virginia (NRA Rating: A). Manchin blamed a “culture of mass violence” rather than the spread of deadly weapons, wishing the president had created a “national commission [to] build the consensus we need for real action backed not only by gun control advocates, mental health experts and entertainment industry executives but also by law-abiding gun owners who fully understand the history and heritage of firearms in America.”

7. Jon Tester, Montana (NRA Rating: A-). Tester refused to take a position, saying “As Congress considers ways to address gun violence, we must look at all aspects of this issue. Our priority must be keeping all Americans–especially our kids–safe. I will look closely at all proposals on the table, but we must use common sense and respect our Constitution.”

8. Harry Reid, Nevada (NRA Rating: B). Reid, like Tester, wouldn’t say one way or another: “I thank the President’s task force for its thoughtful recommendations. I am committed to ensuring that the Senate will consider legislation that addresses gun violence and other aspects of violence in our society early this year. The tragedy at Sandy Hook was just the latest sad reminder that we are not doing enough to protect our citizens – especially our children – from gun violence and a culture of violence, and all options should be on the table moving forward.”

Fortunately, however, several Democratic Senators with high ratings have realized the gun lobby’s power is vastly overstated. Mark Warner of Virginia, who has a flat A rating, said several of the Obama proposals had “bipartisan support” and that “President Obama has laid out a comprehensive, far-reaching proposal to address the issues of gun violence and public safety. The Sandy Hook shootings compel all of us to think anew about these issues, and I believe the status quo is not acceptable.” Bob Casey (PA) and Martin Heinrich (NM), who are rated B+, supported some of the strong gun regulations in the Obama package.

Update

An earlier version of this post attributed a statement from Rep. Don Young (R-AK) to Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK). The post has been updated to accurately reflect Sen. Begich’s remarks. We regret the error.

Politics

Votes Don’t Lie: GOP Senate Candidate Falsely Claims He Never Supported Privatizing Medicare

By Igor Volsky on Oct 22, 2012 at 2:53 pm

U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) denied supporting a Republican proposal to transform Medicare into a voucher program during a debate with Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) on Saturday, despite voting in favor of such a measure in April of 2009.

The Republican Congressman has sought to distance himself from Paul Ryan’s budget throughout the campaign, highlighting his independence from the GOP. And although he voted against Ryan’s blueprint in 2011 and 2012, Rehberg seemed caught off guard when Tester reminded the Republican of his vote to weaken the popular health care program:

TESTER: In 2009, you supported a bill to make Medicare into a voucher system, so that when the seniors are out there and you guys know very well if you’re a senior that your chance of getting sick is much higher, the chance of having a pre-existing condition is much higher…. Can you tell me what your thought process was when you voted to make Medicare into a voucher system?

REHBERG: I have never voted to harm Medicare or Social Security. I’ll do everything I can, and as a promise to the seniors that I will always vote to preserve and protect Social Security and Medicare…. One of the reasons I voted against the Ryan budget, because it had changes in Medicare that I didn’t believe was in the best interest of Montana seniors. I promise to Montana’s seniors that I will always vote, I will never vote to privatize Social Security, I will never vote to privatize Medicare. I believe that they are sound, and I believe that they are be there for anybody that’s on it now or going to be on it soon.

Watch it:

But the 2009 budget amendment Rehberg supported would have closed off traditional Medicare for Americans 54 and younger. They would have had to purchase private coverage using “a premium support payment” that depreciates over time and pay significantly more for their health care.

Ryan’s amendment also proposed to as much as $1 trillion from Medicaid, transforming the existing funding structure (which keeps up with health costs) into a block grant for the states.

LGBT

Better Know An Anti-LGBT Senate Candidate: Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

By Josh Israel on Sep 13, 2012 at 4:40 pm

Ninth in a series examining how anti-LGBT Senate candidates have worked to hurt the cause of equality.

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

In June, Montana Republicans nominated Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) to challenge incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D). Unlike Tester, a fairly reliable supporter of LGBT equality, Rehberg has opposed the LGBT community at every opportunity.

Over his time as Lt. Governor of Montana, his unsuccessful 1996 Senate campaign, his 12 years in the House of Representatives, and this Senate campaign:

1. Rehberg proudly pranked a fellow Congressman with a gay-mocking “Idaho Travel Package.” In 2008, after Idaho’s Sen. Larry Craig (R) plead guilty to lewd conduct involving a male police officer in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport restroom, Rehberg decided to leave a care-package for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID). On a congressional trip to the Middle East, Rehberg reportedly left “a stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it, a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language and a T-shirt that reads, ‘My senator may not be gay, but my governor is Butch.’” The governor of Idaho’s name is C.L. “Butch” Otter. A spokesman claimed “no offense was intended,” Rehberg boasted that he was proud of the travel package and “spent a bit of time putting the things together.”

2. Rehberg has consistently fought against marriage equality and even domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples. In his Senate campaign kickoff, he told supporters: “I will never, ever, ever be ashamed to stand for the life of the unborn child and the sanctity of traditional marriage.” He has indeed shown no shame, voting twice for a federal constitutional amendment requiring “marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.” He also voted for a 2011 amendment reaffirming the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 2007 amendment restricting the District of Columbia government from using any federal funding to provide domestic partnership benefits, and a 2004 bill of questionable constitutionality to strip federal courts of the right to review whether DOMA is unconstitutional. In May, he reiterated his support also for his state’s same-sex marriage ban, saying “Montana’s state constitution says ‘Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state,’ and I agree.”

3. Rehberg railed against hate crimes protections for LGBT Americans, calling them “extremist.” In addition to repeatedly voting against adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal hate crimes laws, he has also been an outspoken opponent of such “special rights.” In a letter to then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), he decried “extremist hate crime legislation” being attached to a Defense authorization bill. He called the protections “divisive social policy,” dismissed them as a “thinly veiled attack on federalism,” and added that they “violate our nation’s founding principles.”

4. Rehberg thinks it should be legal to fire someone just for being gay. He voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2007, which would have banned employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Worse, he refused to even adopt a non-discrimination policy against LGBT discrimination for employees in his own Congressional office.

5. Rehberg opposed letting LGBT servicemembers serve openly. He voted against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal twice in 2010.

6. Rehberg boasts of an award he received from a designated hate group. He was “honored” by the Family Research Council in 2003 with their “True Blue” award. The group’s president Tony Perkins praised him as a “consistent, stalwart ally of American families,” who should be “commended for his adherence to the belief that strong marriages and families are essential aspects of a resilient society.” Rehberg called it an “important recognition of my commitment to the American family.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated FRC as a hate group for its record of “false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science.”

7. Rehberg pushed abstinence-only education, while opposing AIDS funding. In 1994, he opposed funding for Montana AIDS patients, arguing that “the problem with AIDS is: you got it, you die. So why are we spending money on the issue?” He also, as chairman of the relevant House appropriations subcommittee, voted to slash HIV/AIDS prevention funds while adding funds for anti-gay and ineffective abstinence-only sex education programs.

8. Rehberg has been a zero for LGBT Americans — literally. According to the Human Rights Campaign, he has opposed the interests of the LGBT community 100 percent of the time. He earned zero ratings for the 107th, 108th, 109th, 110th, and 111th Congresses.

Watch Rehberg dodge a question from a gay constituent about the second-class citizenship of LGBT Montanans:

Though Rehberg says he wants to “get government out of our lives,” he has consistently voted against giving the same respect to LGBT Americans. Rehberg’s election to the U.S. Senate would be a huge threat to LGBT people and families.

Related Posts

NEWS FLASH

Montana Senators Push Pipeline Safety Bill | Montana Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT) have introduced a bill “aimed at preventing another pipeline accident like the one that spewed thousands of gallons of oil” into the Yellowstone River last month. The Baucus-Tester bill “would require that federal pipeline regulators review safety rules for pipelines near rivers, boost leak detection standards and update oil spill response plans.” Before the spill, Baucus was a major booster of the much larger Keystone XL pipeline project, while Tester has been supportive but more suspicious.

By Brad Johnson on Aug 8, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Switch to Mobile
ThinkProgress Signup Overlay Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress

Sign Up