Speeches
A Lost Opportunity to Protect the Dignity of Human Life
Feb 27, 2020
Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to address these important issues today. I thank my friend and colleague from Oregon for outlining his reasons for objecting to this legislation. I feel the need to respond to a few things that he said because they call for an immediate response.
Remarks on Iran War Powers Resolution
Feb 12, 2020
Mr. President,
I rise today with my colleague, Senator Kaine, to support the resolution before us, which would prohibit the President from conducting offensive military strikes against Iran, unless and until Congress explicitly authorizes it.
This is how security policy in our republic is supposed to be made: Congress authorizes the use of military force, and the president – as commander in chief – directs the military to complete the missions.
Utah Women Lead The Way
Feb 12, 2020
Mr. President,
On February 14, 1870 a remarkable thing happened in Utah – something that changed the course of history not just in our state, but in our entire nation.
Seraph Young, a twenty-three-year-old school teacher, became the first American woman to cast a vote in a political election under an equal suffrage law.
It was a moment that both followed and preceded a long line of remarkable contributions from Utah women – women who have pioneered and led in our state and in our nation.
Against Undoing the Vote Taken by the American People
Feb 5, 2020
Mr. President, I have long maintained that most, if not all of the most serious vexing problems within our federal government can be traced to a deviation from the twin core structural protections of the Constitution.
There are two of these protections one that operates along a vertical axis, the other a horizontal. The vertical protection we call federalism, which states a very simple fact that in the American system of government most powers are to be reserved to the states.
Another Spending Extravaganza
Dec 19, 2019
It’s December, Mr./Madam President. And so America’s attention turns once again to the great debate of our times: which is the best Christmas movie? White Christmas? Elf? A Christmas Story? Die Hard? I’m partial to It’s a Wonderful Life myself.
We have to debate the best Christmas movie that we all watch every year because there really is no debate about the worst. The worst Christmas movie is the one that runs every year on C-Span the week before Our Savior’s birthday: it’s called Omnibus.
