The Democrat said that the proposal to change the U.S. Constitution is a response to last year’s voter-approved initiative that directed Montana’s elected officials to push for such a change, and declared that corporations are not people entitled to constitutional rights.

The initiative got on the ballot amid backlash to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that ruled a ban on some corporate spending in elections was an unconstitutional free speech restriction. Some politically-minded groups have been organizing as corporations, which can face fewer campaign restrictions than traditional campaign operations.

Tester, D-Mont., is chairman of the Governmental Affairs subcommittee on federal workforce and programs. He introduced the Rural Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act after the group’s first hearing in May.

“I dedicated my first hearing to learning more about the challenges and opportunities facing our rural health initiatives, and this bill is a direct result of that,” Tester said.

The legislation encourages the VA to recruit more licensed professional mental health counselors, as well as marriage and family therapists.

The group has introduced legislation to do that in response to news reports that the National Security Agency conducted a secret surveillance program on Americans’ telephone and Internet records.

The legislation would require, for the first time, a public airing of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions regarding the Patriot Act, which the government says gave it the right to conduct the surveillance program.

“We must find the right balance between protecting our nation and protecting the civil liberties that make America the greatest country in the world,” Tester said in a news release.

WORC urged the U.S. Senate to add genetically modified food-labeling requirements to the 2013 farm bill last week before cloture came Thursday. The group also supported an amendment by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to support classical plant-breeding research, which also didn’t make the cut. Tester, an organic-wheat farmer from Big Sandy, said Oregon’s unauthorized Roundup Ready wheat discovery proves that more research safeguards are needed over genetically modified organisms.

“This release of GMO wheat is a perfect example of why we must develop a better system of controls as companies look to commercialize new, man-made crops,” Tester said in a statement to The Gazette. He ended the week encouraging supporters to petition for GMO food labels. “We need stronger safety standards to protect traditional farmers from being hurt by the release of unapproved GMO crops.”

The USS Billings will be a Littoral Combat Ship. According to the Navy, Littoral Combat Ships are fast, agile warships that conduct missions close to the shore such as mine, anti-submarine, and surface warfare.

“Along with Billings and all of Montana, I’m pleased the Navy will be naming a ship after the Magic City,” Tester said. “Montanans proudly serve in every branch of the military, including the Navy, and today’s announcement recognizes their sacrifices and those of their families.”

The news broke today that the FBI and NSA are ordering Verizon Wireless to turn over cell phone records of their customers. According to national news reports the Obama Administration is using this information for counter-terrorism efforts. Senators Baucus and Tester both say this is a gross overreach by the federal government.

“Montana has 12 ports-of-entry on our 545-mile border with Canada and those ports drive tourism and business throughout Montana,” Tester said in a May 29 press release. “Montana does almost $6 billion in trade with Canada each year. Adding a new fee to cross the border will discourage Canadians from coming to Montana to do business.”

The $325,181 grant for housing vouchers comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s popular Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. The initiative works with local housing and support groups to provide eligible homeless veterans with services that aid recovery from physical and mental health conditions resulting from homelessness.

“This assistance goes a long way in helping us live up to our responsibilities to Montana’s veterans,” said Tester, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. “More Montana veterans are coming home every day, and we have to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed. Sometimes that starts with a safe place to live so they can find work, go to school and care for themselves and their families.”

Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus announced the grant Thursday, a day after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced they will give $60 million to local public housing agencies nationwide.

Tester responded to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposal to study whether to impose a tax on individuals entering the U.S. through land ports of entry.

Noting Montana’s high levels of trade and its long border with Canada, Tester called the fee an “unnecessary burden” that would hurt economic development and job creation in the Treasure State.