Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Eagle Forum Collegians Leadership Summit.
From the Senator’s Desk
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s remarks on the Senate floor yesterday:
Madam President, it’s pretty obvious here the reason the Senate is so inactive is because the Majority Leader doesn’t want to take up any serious bills that are important to the future of the country. He mentioned cyber-security, why isn’t it on the floor? Defense authorization, why isn’t it on the floor? Appropriations bills, why don’t we call them up? These are not partisan bills. They’re widely supported. They are the basic work of government, including the budget and I understand his view is that the parliamentarian is wrong that we really did pass a budget, but the budget could be done with a simple majority. The Appropriations Bills are not partisan in nature. If there are differences in the 302-B’s, they would be worked out in conference, which is the way we did it for years.
We have followed the regular order occasionally and when we have Senators that have been involved they were relevant in the process. I’ll give you five examples. The Export-Import Bank Reauthorization, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Patent Reform, F.A.A. Reauthorization, the Highway Bill, and the Farm Bill were all examples of when Senators were made relevant by the fact that we took up bills that actually came out of committees that were worked on by members of both parties, that were brought up on the floor, amendments were offered and in the end bills passed. The core problem here is my good friend, the Majority Leader, as a practical matter is running the whole Senate because everything is centralized in his office which diminishes the opportunity for Senators of both parties to represent their constituents.
We all were sent here by different Americans, who expected us to have a voice, to have an opportunity to effect legislation. I would say to my good friend, the Majority Leader, we don’t have a rules problem, we have an attitude problem. When is the Senate going to get back to normal?
On Twitter
Congress has shown no restraint in setting spending priorities.It is unfair to punish Americans with higher taxes because of this failure.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 19, 2012
So not just #Taxmagedden, more like End of Days? RT @amandacarpenter: The plan is chaos at the end of the year. It’s by design.
— Brian Phillips (@SenLeeComs) July 19, 2012
RELEASE: Lee: American People Shouldn’t Have to Pay For The Mess Congress Created #fiscalcliff #taxes bit.ly/MlPc9U #utpol
— Emily Bennion (@SenLeePressSec) July 19, 2012
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it WAS built by “somebody else”: bit.ly/NCnAdY #youdidntbuildthat #tcot #tlot
— Joe Tauke (@SenLeeResearch) July 19, 2012
Around the Water Cooler
Fed survey: Growth, hiring slowed in parts of US
The U.S. economy expanded modestly in June and early July, but growth and hiring slowed in several parts of the country, according to a Federal Reserve survey released Wednesday.
Jobless claims resume upward climb
New applications for unemployment benefits jumped in the latest week after falling sharply in the prior week due to seasonal factors.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Senator Lee will be back in Utah to meet with constituents.