Press Releases
Sen. Lee, Colleagues Urge HHS to Expand Ethical Sources of Fetal Tissue
Mar 26, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Friday led 15 of his colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting that the agency evaluate its ability to expand the existing organ donation network to include preterm and stillborn infant donors, so as to provide an ethical alternative to aborted fetal tissue. Under no circumstance should scientific research and experimentation use cells or tissues derived from abortion.
The letter reads in part:
“Respecting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is critically important and this action would be a significant step toward protecting human life at all stages. If a consistent, high-quality, and ethically uncontroversial source of human fetal tissue exists, medical research would undoubtedly expand, advancing our nation’s understanding of human development and leading to potentially life-saving discoveries.”
Sen. Lee Cosponsors the Smarter Sentencing Act
Mar 26, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) cosponsored the “Smarter Sentencing Act,” bipartisan legislation designed to bring judicial discretion and flexibility to non-violent drug charge sentencing. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and cosponsored by 11 of their colleagues.
Since 1980, the number of inmates in federal prison has increased by 653%. About 50% of those federal inmates are serving sentences for drug-related offenses, increasing the taxpayer burden by more than 2,000%. In short, federal incarceration has become one of our nation’s biggest expenditures, dwarfing the amount spent on law enforcement.
Sens. Lee, Crapo, and Risch Introduce MORE PILT Act
Mar 25, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Thursday introduced the Making Obligations Right by Enlarging Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, or MORE PILT Act. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined as original cosponsors of the bill.
States, counties, and local governments are not able to collect property taxes on public land in their jurisdictions. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program was established in 1977 to provide funding to offset the absence of property tax revenue. Unfortunately, PILT payments have historically been a small fraction of what local governments would otherwise generate through property taxes, leaving rural communities in Western states deprived of crucial funds.
Sen. Lee Reintroduces Poverty Measurement Improvement Act
Mar 25, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced the Poverty Measurement Improvement Act, a bill that would improve the accuracy of poverty measurement in the United States by requiring the Census Bureau to supplement its existing poverty data with additional data from other federal agencies.
“To help the vulnerable in our social safety net programs, we must make sure that our limited resources are being used as effectively as possible, and going towards those who are most in need,” Sen. Lee said. “This bill will help us ensure that we have the data to do just that.”
Sen. Lee, Colleagues Introduce U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Resolution
Mar 24, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) today introduced a resolution recognizing the mutual history and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, and expressing the Sense of the Senate that the United States President should lay the groundwork for a mutually advantageous future trade agreement between the U.S. and the U.K.
Sen. Lee, Colleagues Introduce Stopping Border Surges Act
Mar 23, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Monday introduced the Stopping Border Surges Act, a bill to address loopholes in our immigration system which encourage vulnerable immigrant populations to take dangerous, illegal paths of entry into the United States.
“Loopholes in our immigration system perversely compel women and children to entrust their savings, futures, and lives to cartels and coyotes – endangering the safety of vulnerable immigrants, and undermining the integrity of our system,” said Sen. Lee. “This bill would help stop these dangerous opportunities for abuse.”
Sen. Lee Reintroduces Protecting American Jobs Act
Mar 22, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today reintroduced the Protecting American Jobs Act, a bill that would strip the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of its power to prosecute and adjudicate labor disputes.
The NLRB, an independent federal agency consisting of five political appointees, was established to carry out the National Labor Relations Act. However, it has historically ignored traditional standards of due process, operated under lengthy and bureaucratic procedures, and caved to political pressures.
Sen. Lee, Colleagues Call for Judiciary Hearing on Obama-Biden FTC’s Sweetheart Deal with Google
Mar 18, 2021
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent letters to Federal Trade Commission Acting Chair (FTC) Rebecca Slaughter and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) calling for a public Judiciary Hearing into recent revelations that the Obama-Biden FTC failed to enforce antitrust law in an 2011 investigation of Google and instead let the company off with a slap on the wrist. The senators call for testimony from Google executives and relevant FTC officials, including the former Commissioners who now represent big tech firms.
Sen. Lee Reintroduces CBO Show Your Work Act
Mar 18, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today reintroduced the “CBO Show Your Work” Act, legislation designed to improve the legislative process by making the Congressional Budget Office more transparent and accountable.
“Congress does need a scorekeeper to provide budgetary estimates for the policy changes it considers,” Sen. Lee said. “But at a bare minimum, that scorekeeper should be forced to show how its models work, which the CBO doesn’t currently have to do. This bill would require the CBO to publish its data, models, and all details of computation used in its cost analysis and scoring, so that the American people and the economic community can see the math for themselves.”
Sen. Lee Reintroduces Davis-Bacon Repeal Act
Mar 18, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) reintroduced the Davis-Bacon Repeal Act Wednesday, a bill designed to repeal the wage subsidy law requiring all federally funded projects worth more than $2,000 to pay workers the “prevailing wage” rate on non-federal projects in the same locality.
“The Davis Bacon Act exemplifies how big government hurts the people it purports to help, gives unfair advantages to favored special interests, and squeezes the middle class,” Sen. Lee said. “The Davis-Bacon Repeal Act would remove these government-imposed obstacles to economic opportunity facing low-skilled workers, and return wasted taxpayer dollars back into the hands of the American people.”
