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Lee Introduces Bill to Lower Federal Construction Costs

Congress: 115

2017-2018

The Short on Competition Act

“Our drug industry has been disastrous,” then-President-elect Trump said in his first post-election news conference earlier this month. “They’re getting away with murder.”

Okay, murder may be an exaggeration, but pharmaceutical companies are getting away with charging far more for their products in this country than they do in others. But as is often the case, the real problem here is not too little government intervention in the marketplace, but too much.

The Opportunity to Defund Planned Parenthood

“Life is winning in America,” declared Vice President Mike Pence today as he spoke to the countless thousands of Americans assembled on the national mall for the annual March for Life. Vice President Pence’s presence at the rally was itself evidence of the momentum behind the pro-life movement in America. Today marked the March for Life’s 44th consecutive year, but it was the first time that a government official as high ranking as the Vice President attended in person to speak to the crowd.

Sens. Lee, Grassley Introduce Balanced Budget Amendment

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced an amendment to the United States Constitution that would require the federal government to balance its budget each year. This amendment would put a stop to the current “status quo” of Congress spending far more money than the federal government takes in and would place strict limitations on the federal government’s ability to increase taxes, raise the debt limit, and carry out other actions that threaten our long-term fiscal sustainability.

Inauguration Day

Inauguration Day is a hopeful time in America. A new president brings new opportunities to fix what’s broken in our government, to think afresh about old problems, and to recommit ourselves to the shared American project of working together to build a more perfect union.

But the inauguration of a new president – that fleeting moment when the past meets the future and power is peacefully transferred from one administration to the next – also encourages us to take stock of our present situation and reflect on the challenges we face as a nation.

Conventional wisdom holds that the great malady plaguing American life today is the toxic combination of political polarization and social fragmentation. And there’s a great deal of truth to this diagnosis. We are, as one astute observer put it, a “fractured republic,” fraught with intense divisions and deep anxieties that are not easily resolved.

But I believe our polarization is merely a symptom of a far deeper problem in America today – a problem that actually unites us, more than it divides us.

Ask the American people to share their opinions on a particular public policy – be it immigration, health care, same-sex marriage, or any hotly contested issue – and you’ll likely receive a wide variety of responses. These are our dividing lines. But ask them whether they think their opinions actually matter to those charged with making policy – ask them whether their elected representatives truly represent their interests – and the public is suddenly unified.

A recent public poll found that three-quarters of Americans believe most elected government officials “don’t care what people like me think.” What do they care about? Catering to the narrow agendas of the powerful and well-connected, according to the same supermajority of respondents, who said the federal government is “run by a few big interests” rather than “for the benefit of all the people.”

The American people know they are no longer in charge of their government. They know each year their elected representatives in Washington grow increasingly indifferent, if not downright hostile, to their interests and concerns. And they know – thanks to last year’s election – that they no longer have to tolerate a political establishment committed to taking power away from the people, first by pulling it up away from states and localities and toward the federal government, and then by consolidating it in the hands of Washington’s unelected bureaucrats.

This drive toward centralization of policymaking power is rooted in an unspoken distrust of the American people’s capacity to govern themselves. But the history of America, and the principles of the Republican Party, prove this distrust to be utterly unfounded. As Abraham Lincoln – America’s first Republican president – put it in his first inaugural address: “Why should there not be patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?”

On the eve of America’s civil war, Lincoln placed his trust – and his hope for a brighter future – squarely on the side of the people. As we seek to heal the wounds of division in our own day, we should follow his lead.

Winning back the people’s trust must be the primary goal of the Republican Party as we assume unified control over Congress and the presidency, and there’s only one way to accomplish it: by putting our trust back in the people.

Lee Introduces Global Trade Accountability Act

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Global Trade Accountability Act Friday, a bill that would subject all Executive Branch trade actions (including raising tariffs) to congressional approval.

The Global Trade Accountability Act

Barack Obama’s presidency was unprecedented in many ways, but the most distinctive – and damaging – feature of his tenure in the White House was his casual disregard for the […]

Sens. Lee, Rubio Call for Fair Taxes for Families

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Ways and Means Committee encouraging them to make tax reform a priority in the 115th Congress and to consider the Economic Growth and Family Fairness Tax Reform Plan.