SMARTER Act
Oct 9, 2015
More than thirty years before Parker Brothers sold their first “Monopoly” board game, the federal government began laying the foundation for our modern anti-trust regulatory regime in order to prevent real monopolies from emerging in the marketplace. While this regulatory framework has largely succeeded in protecting the fair and open competition upon which our free-enterprise economy depends, a relatively minor design flaw has caused the enforcement of our nation’s antitrust laws to be inconsistent and uneven.
The Conservative Case for Criminal Justice Reform
Oct 7, 2015
"Applying timeless conservative principles to fix today’s broken government policies, and help all Americans in their pursuit of happiness, has always been the bread and butter of what Heritage does. It’s how I’ve tried to approach my work in the Senate for the past five years. And it’s what brings me here today to talk about the need for criminal justice reform."
Lee Holds Hearing On SMARTER Act
Oct 7, 2015
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) chaired a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights hearing today, examining the impact on the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act, or the SMARTER Act.
Democrats Used Reconciliation to Pass Obamacare. We Should Do the Same to Repeal It
Oct 2, 2015
Patient costs are up. Access to doctors is down. Co-ops are going bankrupt, and insurance companies have already asked Uncle Sam for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
Five years have passed since former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) infamously admitted, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.” Americans now know what was hiding in Obamacare. And they don’t like it.
The conservative case for criminal justice reform
Oct 2, 2015
This Thursday, after months of hard work, a bipartisan group of senators and I introduced the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015.
Most people, including many conservatives, might think criminal justice reform is a progressive cause, not a conservative one.
But, like many pearls of conventional wisdom, this is simply untrue.
Lee, Manchin, Murphy, Udall Call for an End to the Failed Syria Train and Equip Program
Oct 2, 2015
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Tom Udall (D-NM) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter, U.S. Department of State Secretary John Kerry and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan urging them to end the Syria Train and Equip Program – an unsuccessful effort to train and equip Syrian opposition fighters – which has endangered Americans and further escalated conflict in the region.
Senators Introduce Landmark Bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015
Oct 1, 2015
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin today is introducing comprehensive legislation aimed at recalibrating prison sentences for certain drug offenders, targeting violent criminals, and granting judges greater discretion at sentencing for lower-level drug crimes.
Lee, Grassley, Hatch Introduce FTC Reform Bill
Sep 30, 2015
Today, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act (SMARTER Act). This legislation reforms and modernizes the application of our antitrust laws by harmonizing the rules governing how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) review proposed mergers and acquisitions.
Lee Introduces National Labor Relations Board Reform Bill
Sep 28, 2015
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation that would strip the National Labor Relations Board of its power to prosecute and adjudicate labor disputes. The “Protecting American Jobs Act” would transfer the power to hear labor disputes to federal courts. The NLRB would retain the power to conduct investigations, but would not be allowed to prosecute them.
Defending America’s Long Tradition of Religious Liberty
Sep 25, 2015
Few things divide our nation more than hotly contested questions of morality, culture, and conscience, so I was glad to hear Pope Francis, in his address to Congress, exhort us to be patient, modest, and compassionate in our public policy debates. Toward that end, I believe it’s worth clarifying several key features of the First Amendment Defense Act, which was recently introduced in Congress and has been the subject of controversy and misunderstandings.
