Tina Smith: “I also want to thank Senator Ernst for your partnership in planning the hearing today.”

I think too often in the Senate, we talk to one another through other people.

I don’t know whether Sen. Lee thought fully through what it was, you’d have to ask him, but I needed him to hear from me directly what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague.

But many rural hospitals face increasingly dire financial strain and workforce shortages, forcing them to cut services or even close down altogether.

“The freedom to live and love openly without fear of retaliation is a fundamental American value,”