Press Releases
Cortez Masto Announces More Than $58 Million for Nevada Airports from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that $58.3 million is coming to Nevada airports from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded these funds to 30 airports all over the state, including $43,982,805 to upgrade Harry Reid International Airport and $6,851,041 for improvements at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. "Nevada's airports connect our state and are the gateways to our travel, … Continue Reading
December 15, 2021
Cortez Masto, Tester Pass Legislation to Protect VA Benefits for Student Veterans
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jon Tester (D- Mont.) announced that their Responsible Education Mitigating Option and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act has passed both the House and the Senate and is on its way to President Biden's desk for signature into law. This vital piece of legislation will ensure that eligible student veterans can access their full VA housing allowances while pursuing education remotely during the pandemic. These housing … Continue Reading
December 15, 2021
Cortez Masto’s Bipartisan Legislation to Restore Travel and Tourism Industry Passes Commerce Committee
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that the Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act of 2021 she helped develop advanced through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with strong bipartisan support. This bipartisan legislative package is focused on restoring and expanding the nation's tourism industry in the face of ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Nevada is a world-class tourism destination, and I'll always champion our … Continue Reading
December 15, 2021
Cortez Masto Statement on Senate Passage of 2022 Defense Bill
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 on a bipartisan 88-11 vote. The defense bill includes a pay raise for service members, important reforms to the military justice system to support sexual assault survivors, and funding for military construction projects across Nevada that support U.S. national security. Critically, this bill includes Senator … Continue Reading
December 15, 2021
ICYMI: Cortez Masto Highlights Work to Lower Drug Costs for Nevadans
In Case You Missed It - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) published a new op-ed highlighting her efforts in the Senate to lower prescription drug prices for seniors and Nevada families. Senator Cortez Masto has advocated for lower drug costs for Nevada families throughout her time in the Senate and has helped negotiate provisions to address drug prices in the Build Back Better bill. In the op-ed, she lays out how provisions in the bill will make a difference for Nevadans, including … Continue Reading
December 10, 2021
Cortez Masto Announces $200,000 to Help Washoe Sheriff’s Department Quickly Process Sexual Assault Kits and Other Forensic Evidence
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced $200,000 would be coming to the Washoe County Sheriff's Office to help the department speed up processing of DNA forensic tests, including rape kits and DNA evidence collected at crime scenes. In 2019, Senator Cortez Masto helped pass legislation to reauthorize funding essential to clearing the country's sexual assault kit backlog, and in February of this year, Northern Nevada announced that it had cleared its backlog. … Continue Reading
December 10, 2021
Cortez Masto Announces $1.1 Million to Help Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Quickly Process Sexual Assault Kits and Other Forensic Evidence
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that $1,183,001 would be coming to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) to help the department speed up processing of DNA forensic tests, including rape kits and DNA and fingerprint evidence collected at crime scenes. The LVMPD currently has a backlog of DNA evidence kits and will use this funding from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide overtime pay for their forensic scientists and … Continue Reading
December 09, 2021
Cortez Masto Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Improve Small Business Loan Program
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) to introduce the bipartisan Streamlining EIDL Act to improve the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) application process for small businesses and combat programmatic fraud. The legislation will require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide timely and helpful responses to small business applicants and submit a report to Congress on how it is … Continue Reading
December 08, 2021
Cortez Masto Statement on New EPA Rule to Promote Advanced Biofuel
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new package of proposed rules, including one to allow for the production of renewable transportation fuel at multiple facilities. This framework would allow for innovative, clean fuel options to be generated and sold on the market. The new rule is the direct result of Cortez Masto's advocacy with both the Trump and Biden administrations - … Continue Reading
December 08, 2021
Cortez Masto, Rosen Announce More Than $24.5 Million in Grants for Nevada Airports
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) today announced that the Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded $24,557,660 in COVID-19 relief funding to 15 Nevada airports and the small businesses that serve as airport concessionaires. This includes a total of over $23 million to support airport concessions businesses at the Reno/Tahoe International Airport and the Harry Reid International Airport. "Nevada's travel and tourism industries, … Continue Reading
December 07, 2021
Cortez Masto Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Support Entertainment Industry
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in introducing the Music Under Severe Income Crisis (MUSIC) Act to support the entertainment industry impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. This legislation would expand the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Program to include the many support and service companies, including convention and trade show organizers, that work with live event venues and performers and have been … Continue Reading
December 03, 2021
Cortez Masto Holds Town Hall With Northern Nevada Firefighters
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today held a virtual town hall with Northern Nevada firefighters to discuss the most recent fire season and the Senator's efforts to provide much-needed support for those on the front lines of this year's devastating wildfires across the state. Cortez Masto also heard their firsthand accounts of where she can work with state and local officials to secure additional resources and support for both firefighters and Northern Nevada … Continue Reading
December 03, 2021
Cortez Masto, Rosen Announce over $71 Million in Water Infrastructure Funding for Nevada Thanks to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) released the following statement to announce that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will deliver $71.6 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law to help Nevada communities and Tribes upgrade drinking and wastewater systems across the state in 2022. This is the first round of water infrastructure funding that Nevada will receive from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. "These funds … Continue Reading
December 01, 2021
Cortez Masto Calls for Congress to Protect Reproductive Rights as SCOTUS Hears Challenge to Roe v. Wade
"This is by far the biggest threat to Roe v. Wade in almost three decades. I'm here today to sound the alarm and call on my colleagues to stand with me to protect the health of America's women." "Three out of every four of us-including the vast majority of Nevadans-agree that the people who should be making decisions about pregnancies are women and their doctors." "[M]ake no mistake: as long as there are active efforts to eliminate the right to choose, whether in the courts or in Congress, … Continue Reading
December 01, 2021
Cortez Masto Statement on Reproductive Rights as Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Roe v. Wade
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today issued the following statement ahead of the Supreme Court hearing oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women Health, a case concerning legislation in Mississippi that would ban abortion after 15 weeks and a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. "The case being argued in front of the Supreme Court today is by far the biggest threat to women's constitutional right to reproductive freedom in almost three decades, and we have to … Continue Reading
November 30, 2021
Cortez Masto, Rosen Praise Department of Energy’s Action to Explore a Consent-Based Siting Process for Nuclear Waste
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) issued the following statements applauding the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) move to explore a consent-based siting approach to the storage of nuclear waste. The DOE announced today that it will relaunch a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit input from states, local leaders, Tribes, and the public on identifying an interim nuclear waste storage facility using a consent-based siting process. … Continue Reading
November 23, 2021
Cortez Masto Legislation to Deliver More Than $5 Million Owed to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Passes Senate Indian Affairs Committee
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after passing her bipartisan, bicameral bill to make vital amendments to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act through the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Cortez Masto's legislation would allow the Tribes to collect over $5 million in interest that they are owed from their 2009 water rights settlement. Interest payments are commonplace in Indian … Continue Reading
November 23, 2021
Cortez Masto Presses Department of Education to Act on Promised Overhaul of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to Help Military Service Members
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led fourteen of her Senate colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging the Biden Administration to implement changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that will make it easier for military service members to access benefits. The Department has already provided relief to many borrowers under the new rules, but the changes have not yet been fully implemented, and … Continue Reading
November 23, 2021
Cortez Masto Applauds Biden Administration’s Move to Lower Gas Prices for Nevadans, Calls for Additional Action to Keep Costs Down
Cortez Masto called on the Biden Administration to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week. Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden to commend him and his Administration's decision to release crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to provide near-term relief for American families struggling with high gas prices ahead of … Continue Reading
November 19, 2021
Cortez Masto Introduces REMOTE Act to Protect VA Benefits for Student Veterans
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jon Tester (D- Mont.) today introduced the Responsible Education Mitigating Option and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act to ensure student veterans can access their full housing allowances while pursuing education remotely during the pandemic. These housing benefits are set to be cut by almost half in December 2021, which will create extreme uncertainty for veterans who could be forced to abandon their education in order to … Continue Reading
