Press Releases

I am disappointed in the Justice Department's decision to seek to block the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee received significant evidence that the transaction could benefit consumers through enhanced service quality, expanded network capacity, increased data speeds, and continued innovation of data-rich handset devices and applications. I look forward to reviewing the Department's analysis and trust that the merger review process will be directed towards maximization of consumer welfare.

The American people have a right to know what their government is going to do with their tax dollars. Not only do closed door meetings by this Committee prevent the public from knowing how their dollars are being spent, but these meetings also have the potential to promote deals with special interests. Open door proceedings will allow the public to be their own advocates, rather than relying on games of inside baseball that too often dominate today’s Washington.

The Budget Control Act represents a disappointing failure on the part of this Congress. We have squandered the best opportunity we had to fundamentally reform the way Washington spends money and put the nation on a sustainable path toward a balanced budget. Instead, this bill increases our national debt by more than $2 trillion and cuts spending by only $7 billion over the same time period. There is no reliable enforcement mechanism for future spending reductions. We only have the hollow promises from a Congress that created the mess in the first place.

Following a procedural vote to prevent the "Cut, Cap, and Balance Act" from coming to the Senate floor, Senator Mike Lee released the following statement: Today, Majority Leader Harry Reid used procedural tactic to prevent a vote on a bill that is supported by two-thirds of the country. It is shameful, despicable, and an abuse of this chamber. We weren’t even allowed sufficient time to debate the one bill in Congress that would address the country’s most immediate challenges.