Minority News

Press Releases

Press Releases 04/28/2021
Wicker Commends Committee Passage of Bills Supporting NOAA, NSF Programs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today released the following statement after the Committee approved 11 bills and two nominations, including the National Ocean Exploration Act, the Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support (FLOODS) Act, and the Advanced Technological Manufacturing Act.
Press Releases 04/27/2021
Senators Reintroduce Bipartisan Rural STEM Education Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., today reintroduced the Rural STEM Education Act to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and training access in rural communities.
Press Releases 04/26/2021
Wicker, Capito, Toomey, Crapo, Barrasso Unveil Framework to Improve Nation’s Infrastructure
The Republican infrastructure framework, which includes $568 billion in infrastructure investments over a five-year period, will serve as a guide as the Senate continues to develop bipartisan bills that will go through regular order. This is the largest infrastructure investment that Republicans have ever put forth.
Press Releases 04/19/2021
Wicker Urges Interagency Coordination for Broadband Deployment
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Department to coordinate its new broadband programs with the other federal agencies supporting broadband deployment.
Press Releases 04/16/2021
Committee Members Urge Commerce Department to Update National Travel and Tourism Strategy
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member and chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo urging the interagency Tourism Policy Council to update the National Travel and Tourism Strategy (NTTS) to reflect the impact of COVID-19. The NTTS was last updated in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Press Releases 03/30/2021
Wicker Requests Hearing on FCC Broadband Maps
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, requesting that the Committee hold a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversight hearing to discuss the agency’s plans and timelines for developing new broadband maps.
Press Releases 03/25/2021
Senators Introduce Bill to Address Telecommunications Workforce Shortage
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., today introduced the Improving Minority Participation and Careers in Telecommunications (IMPACT) Act. The legislation would create a grant program through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that would award $100 million in grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-serving Institutions to develop job training programs to educate and train students to participate in the telecommunications workforce.
Press Releases 03/23/2021
Committee Leaders Request Full Accounting of How CPSC Spends Newly Appropriated $50 Million
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, along with Reps. Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Wash., ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., ranking member of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, sent a letter to Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Robert Adler asking for a full accounting of the $50 million appropriated to the agency in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for enhanced port surveillance and screening of consumer products for potential safety standard violations.
Press Releases 03/17/2021
Wicker, Cantwell Reintroduce Fishery Disasters Bill
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member and chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today reintroduced legislation to reform the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)’s Fishery Resource Disaster Relief program of the National Marine Fisheries Service. This legislation, the Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act, will make improvements to provide fishermen with disaster relief more quickly.
Press Releases 03/11/2021
Wicker, Cantwell Reintroduce Advanced Technological Manufacturing Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member and chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today reintroduced the Advanced Technological Manufacturing Act to reauthorize and modernize the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.

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