{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=60F60759-A85D-4498-88D5-8908383EBEB7", "Heitkamp Leads Bipartisan Effort to Delay New Regulations for Livestock & Insect Transporters", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp led a bipartisan effort to delay implementation of electronic logging devices (ELDs) for commercial vehicles transporting livestock or insects. The regulations are due to go into effect early next year, but the unique safety and animal welfare challenges of livestock hauling still need to be addressed.\r\nHeitkamp joined U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) in leading a bipartisan group of colleagues in sending a letter to Senate leadership supporting a provision in the U.S. House-passed Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill delaying implementation of ELDs and providing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) time to make the necessary adjustments to hours of service rules.\r\n\u201cTransporting livestock in a humane and timely manner is critical to jobs in rural communities across North Dakota, so we must make sure livestock haulers have the ability to get their goods to their destinations quickly and safely,\u201d Heitkamp said. \u201cWe must look critically at any new regulation that could harm rural jobs, so it\u2019s encouraging that a bipartisan group has joined me in calling for a reasonable delay in ELD implementation so that we can better protect livestock, motorists, and the jobs livestock production supports.\u201d\r\nFull text of the letter is below and available here. \r\nSenator Heitkamp has been fighting for livestock and honey bee producers, especially as they continue to face the effects of a severe drought. This week, she introduced legislation to expand assistance available to livestock and honey bee producers as they recover from drought. In August, Heitkamp conducted\u00a0a two-day drought and Farm Bill tour\u00a0across western North Dakota to hear directly from farmers, ranchers, researchers, and FSA workers about the solutions they need now to weather the drought, and the critical programs that need to be protected and strengthened in the 2018 Farm Bill. The tour built on\u00a0a listening session Heitkamp convened\u00a0in July with ranchers, local leaders, and experts on the ground in Bowman to talk about solutions to address challenges they currently face related to the drought, and discuss how to best prepare down the road.\r\nThe letter was also signed by U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-ND), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jon Tester (D-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jim Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Mike Lee (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Dean Heller (R-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK).\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=60F60759-A85D-4498-88D5-8908383EBEB7"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4291990082710981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}