Republican News

Press Releases 11/2/2021
Committee Leaders Raise Concern Over Activists Calling for Physical Attacks on Energy Infrastructure
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, led a letter with 36 Senate and House colleagues to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) raising concerns about the recently published book How to Blow Up a Pipeline. The letter highlights the impact attacks on pipeline infrastructure will have on the economy, environment, and personal security of Americans. The committee leaders also requested information on how the agency is identifying threats of physical attacks to pipelines and working with industry to mitigate those threats.
Press Releases 10/28/2021
Wicker, Schatz, Rubio Introduce AQUAA Act to Advance American Aquaculture
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., today introduced the bipartisan Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act of 2021 to establish national standards for sustainable offshore aquaculture. The bill would designate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the lead federal agency for marine aquaculture. The legislation would also direct NOAA to harmonize the permitting system for offshore aquaculture for farms in federal waters, and direct the agency to lead a research and development grant program to spur innovation throughout the industry.
Press Releases 10/27/2021
Wicker Urges President to Reconsider Plan Requiring Employees to be Vaccinated, Tested Weekly
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today sent a letter urging President Joseph Biden to delay or defer the anticipated COVID-19 action plan for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a rule requiring all private employers with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated, or have weekly testing, as a condition of work eligibility.
Press Releases 10/26/2021
Committee Investigation Suggests Leading Technology Company Violated Huawei-related Rule
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today released a report following a committee investigation that finds Seagate Technology likely in violation of the Foreign Direct Product Rule implemented by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce, which restricts Huawei’s access to sensitive technology. The investigation found that Seagate flouted the regulation designed to protect U.S. national security by making unlawful transactions with Huawei for as long as one year, allowing the company to gain significant profits as it monopolized the market.
Press Releases 10/20/2021
Committee Members Raise Concerns About TSA’s Rushed Cybersecurity Rules
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, John Thune, R-S.D., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., sent a letter to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) raising concerns about the agency’s plans to issue additional cybersecurity mandates using its emergency authority for Security Directives, which will obviate important feedback from experts on the impacts of such mandates.
Press Releases 10/20/2021
Committee Leaders Call on State Department to Reinstate Hand Carry Program
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., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., chair and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion, today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken requesting that the operational capacity of the Department of State’s (DOS) passport Hand Carry Program be brought back to pre-pandemic levels.
Press Releases 10/4/2021
Wicker Expresses Concern About TikTok’s Involvement in U.S. Cyber Games
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo expressing concern about the role TikTok will play in the first ever U.S. Cyber Games, an initiative receiving funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The U.S. Cyber Games represent an important initiative led by the private sector to promote cybersecurity careers, build a diverse and skilled cybersecurity workforce, and help to drive research on effective practices for cybersecurity workforce development.
Press Releases 09/30/2021
Wicker Raises Concerns Over CPSC Acting Chairman’s Nullification of FY2022 Operating Plan
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today sent a letter urging Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Robert Adler to adopt the Commission’s Operating Plan for Fiscal Year 2022 as amended by majority vote. This follows Acting Chairman Adler’s recent action to nullify a 2-1 vote to approve the Operating Plan.
Press Releases 09/29/2021
Wicker Urges Congress to Pass Federal Data Privacy Legislation
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today during the committee hearing on consumer data privacy expressed the importance of Congress passing a comprehensive national data privacy law.
Press Releases 09/24/2021
Senate Ranking Members Urge DOJ to Restore Information Access for Minority Committee Leaders
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, led Senate committee ranking members in a letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Merrick Garland imploring the DOJ to rescind the Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) 2017 opinion, which advises departments and agencies that they can ignore document requests from minority leadership of congressional committees.