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October 27, 2017
Protecting Consumers from Trial Lawyers
Every year an estimated 130 billion bank transactions worth more than $80 trillion flow through the American economy. Given the sheer volume of transactions, disagreements are bound to arise between banks and consumers. If a customer disagrees with their bank about a specific transaction, they can either a) fight the bank for the money they believe they are owed, or b) switch banks.
October 27, 2017
Alexander-Murray is an Insurer Bailout
Earlier this month, President Trump told a conservative audience at the Heritage Foundation, “While I commend the bipartisan work done by Senators Alexander and Murray — and I do commend it — I continue to believe Congress must find a solution to the Obamacare mess instead of providing bailouts to insurance companies.” We Need Reform, Not Bailouts
October 23, 2017
We Need Reform, Not Bailouts
Mr. President, as we speak our brothers and sisters in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas are recovering from a string of devastating hurricanes. Over one hundred people have lost their lives because of these storms. Many more are struggling to get by day to day.
October 20, 2017
Real Progress Towards Tax Relief for American Families
It’s not every day that good news comes out of Congress, but last night the United States Senate made firm progress on tax reform that included a strong bipartisan message that the final legislation must include real tax relief for working families. Make no mistake: Any tax reform legislation that is produced this year will do so largely along partisan lines. That is why the Senate’s passage of a budget resolution last night was so important for tax reform. It checked the first box in the budget reconciliation process created by the 1974 Congressional Budget Act that allows the Senate
October 20, 2017
Senate Blue Slips
More than 140 federal judgeships are currently unoccupied, a record high number. President Trump has nominated almost 60 candidates to fill those slots but so far only seven have been confirmed. There are many reasons why the Senate has not been able to confirm more of President Trump’s nominees, but a major obstacle has been Democrat abuse of a Senate Judiciary Committee practice more commonly known as the “blue slip.”
October 12, 2017
Social Capital, the Opioid Crisis, and Deaths of Despair
Today, the Social Capital Project released a new video promo for our work on opioids and deaths of despair. The video (embedded below) is narrated by Senator Mike Lee, Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, which houses the Social Capital Project.
October 6, 2017
Repeal the Jones Act
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, you probably saw those pictures of shipping containers stranded at United States ports, waiting to be delivered to survivors in Puerto Rico. One of the reasons it is so difficult to get relief supplies to hurricane victims is a 1920 law that was designed to promote a civilian merchant marine fleet that could “serve as a naval or military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency.”
October 6, 2017
Towards a Fairer and Safer Criminal Justice System
Violent crime did increase in the United States in 2016. But not everywhere. Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis have all suffered a large increase in murders the past few years, while communities like Omaha, Austin, and Miami have seen crime go down.
October 5, 2017
Sen. Lee Introduces Smarter Sentencing Act
WASHINGTON – Today, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators led by Mike Lee (R-UT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2017. This legislation would modernize federal drug sentencing policies by giving federal judges more discretion in sentencing those convicted of non-violent drug offenses. Senators Lee and Durbin were joined in this effort by Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Pat Leahy (D-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Gary Peters (D-MI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
October 4, 2017
Executive Abuse of the Antiquities Act
We are here to talk about executive abuses of the Antiquities Act. All told, presidents have used this law to cordon off tens of millions of acres of public land from recreation and economic activity—and they have done this with shockingly little regard for the actual Americans who work and live near these areas.