Press Releases
Senate Passes Lee-Leahy FISA Amendment
May 13, 2020
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Wednesday after the Senate voted 77-19 to adopt the Lee-Leahy Amendment to USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020.
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. But men are not angels so our government will always need oversight and accountability to make sure it doesn’t abuse its power. The Lee-Leahy Amendment just passed by the Senate will help bring some much-needed oversight and accountability to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. More work still needs to be done, but this is good reform in the right direction, and I look forward to final passage of this FISA reform legislation.”
Sen. Lee Signs Letter Asking President Trump to Reject State Bailouts
Apr 30, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Sens. Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, and Mike Enzi sent a letter to President Trump urging the Administration to reject states’ efforts to receive taxpayer dollars for non-Coronavirus related expenses, like bail-outs for unfunded pensions or to backfill lost revenue.
Sens. Lee, Klobuchar Call on Law Enforcement to Investigate Meat Supply Chain
Apr 27, 2020
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, and Mike Lee (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, wrote a letter to the Justice Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), calling on the agencies to identify problems and implement appropriate solutions to help ensure that our country’s food markets work for consumers, as well as our farmers, ranchers, and packers.
Sen. Lee Delivers Floor Remarks on the Need for Senate to Reconvene
Apr 22, 2020
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) yesterday spoke on the Senate floor on the essential need for the Senate to reconvene and take up legislation to reopen the American economy.
“We've seen health care providers working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We've seen the president and his staff at the White House working 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Sen. Lee Named to President’s Economic Task Force
Apr 16, 2020
SALT LAKE CITY - Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was named to President Trump’s Congressional Economic Task Force on Wednesday. The bipartisan and bicameral group of federal lawmakers will provide counsel to President Trump on the reopening of the American economy.
Sen. Lee Signs Letter to Ensure Protection for Faith-Based Entities
Apr 15, 2020
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) joined a group of 17 senators Tuesday that signed a letter to Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, and Jovita Carranza, Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), to thank them for the recently issued interim final rule on protections for faith-based entities during the continued rollout of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and related federal economic relief. The Administration also issued an FAQ for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) programs to clarify that faith-based entities, including houses of worship, are eligible for the PPP and EIDL and will not need to sacrifice their religious beliefs to comply.
Joint Economic Committee Chairman Mike Lee (R-UT) Comments on March Employment Numbers
Apr 3, 2020
WASHINGTON - Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee Mike Lee (R-UT) released the following statement Friday, in response to the U.S. Labor Department’s March 2020 jobs report.
“The unemployment report this morning understates the challenges Americans are now facing. It was going to take a once-in-a-century emergency to disrupt our booming economy. But that’s what we have on our hands. People are losing jobs every day, and millions of families and businesses are just hanging on.
Sen. Lee Praises Pick for DC Appeals Court
Apr 3, 2020
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Friday after President Trump nominated U.S. District Judge Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit:
“I have known Justin Walker for years, and have had many opportunities to review his legal and scholarly writings. He is an unusually gifted lawyer and judge, and I couldn’t be more pleased that President Trump has decided to nominate him to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The American people will benefit tremendously from his service on that important tribunal.”
Sens. Lee and Leahy Comment on DOJ OIG Interim FISA Report
Mar 31, 2020
WASHINGTON – Today the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General released a Management Advisory Memorandum to FBI Director Christopher Wray identifying concerns with the FBI’s compliance with the “Woods Procedures” for FISA applications relating to U.S. persons.
Woods Procedures are vitally important to the integrity of the entire FISA process, as they are designed to ensure that the government presents a complete, accurate assessment of the facts to the FISA court. Based on a sampling of 29 FISA applications in eight field offices across the nation, the IG concluded that “we do not have confidence that the FBI has executed its Woods Procedures in compliance with FBI policy.” Woods files were missing from four of the 29 applications, and the other 25 applications had an average of 20 issues discovered per application.
