Sen. Lee Statement on End of Government Shutdown

Jan 25, 2019

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement after President Trump announced the end of the government shutdown: “It is of course a relief that the shutdown is over. But the shutdown was not created by the crisis on the border. It was created by the failure of Congress to do its job. The way we are doing things now is convenient for politicians, but not for the American people. Government funding and immigration policy shouldn’t be a secret negotiation, but an open debate on the floors of the House and Senate. That’s the only way the American people can be included in this process.”

Sen. Lee Reintroduces Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing Act

Jan 24, 2019

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), along with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Risch (R-ID), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) reintroduced the Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing Act of 2019, a bill that would ensure the elimination of all federal regulations of suppressors.

Sen. Lee Statement on Ending Shutdown and Paying Federal Workers

Jan 24, 2019

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Thursday after voting against a White House plan to fund the federal government: “If this had been a vote to begin debate on a deal to end the shutdown, I would have happily voted yes,” Sen. Lee said. “But this was a vote to end debate on a bill that I believe is fundamentally flawed. In fact, after specifically asking for assurances that we would be allowed to offer amendments, no assurances were given. This bill as is simply does not do enough to reform our immigration system or address the crisis at our southern border.”

Sens. Lee, Grassley Reintroduce Balanced Budget Amendment

Jan 24, 2019

WASHINGTON – Today, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced 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.

Sen. Lee Introduces Bill to Make Mexico City Policy Permanent

Jan 22, 2019

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation Friday that would make the administration’s “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance” policy, former known as the Mexico City Policy, permanent statutory policy. “The administration’s ban on funding overseas organizations that promote abortion has already saves and will continue to save countless lives across the globe,” Lee said. “We cannot leave the fate of these regulations up to the whims of successive presidents. Congress must now step up and do what they can to turn the ‘Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance’ executive order into law.”

Different Races, Same Boat

Jan 21, 2019

Could a conservative populism repair our racial divide? Toward the end of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. turned his attention from an exclusive focus on racial justice to unequal opportunity more generally. The United States was “a nation gorged on money,” he wrote, “while millions of its citizens are denied a good education, adequate health services, decent housing, meaningful employment, and even respect, and are then told to be responsible.” He specifically blamed federal policymakers for “subsidies of the rich and unemployment and underemployment of the poor.”

Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform

Jan 18, 2019

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution says that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Founding Fathers specifically included this provision in the Constitution because, as they complained in the Declaration of Independence, the British often detained colonists and seized their property without any legal process at all. Unfortunately in recent decades, the federal government and local law enforcement have been using a legal practice called “civil asset forfeiture” to short circuit these protections.

Let’s Start Working to End This Shutdown

Jan 18, 2019

This coming Monday will mark the 31st day of this partial government shutdown, the longest shutdown in our nation’s history. Families are going without paychecks, businesses are losing revenue, and the brave men and women who protect our country—including those at the border and in the waters surrounding our nation—are not getting the support they need to keep us safe. This needs to end, and it needs to end as soon as possible.

Sen. Lee Delivers Remarks on March for Life

Jan 16, 2019

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the 46th annual March for Life, to be held in Washington, D.C. this Friday. “The story of American history is the story of our nation overcoming oppression, protecting the vulnerable in our laws and with our lives. From Independence Hall to the Bill of Rights, from the abolition of slavery to universal suffrage to the Civil Rights movement, to the triumph over Nazism, fascism, and communism… the American people have fought through prejudice and pride to assert and to defend the equal dignity of every member of our human family.

Floor Remarks on the March for Life

Jan 16, 2019

This coming Friday, tens of thousands of Americans will take to the snowy streets of Washington, D.C. to exercise their fundamental rights… on behalf of millions more who cannot. They will come from every state in the union to march to the United States Supreme Court – fittingly, down Constitution Avenue – in the name of justice and in defense of the innocent.