Speeches

The solution to border crisis begins with president finally enforcing the law

Jul 31, 2014

The situation at the border is heartbreaking. Tens of thousands of single adults, families and children have made an incredibly dangerous journey north from countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. They are leaving theses countries because they offer too little opportunity and are mired in poverty and violence. No one begrudges them for wanting to find a better place to live. Americans are compassionate and generous. The American people always have extended and always will extend a helping hand to every corner of the world. And even as the number of illegal border crossings has exploded over the past year, we have treated these individuals with dignity and respect.

Senator Lee’s Floor Remarks on S. 5021: The “Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014”

Jul 29, 2014

We are here today because our federal highway policy status quo is not working. And it hasn’t been for a long time. This is the sixth time American taxpayers have been asked to bail out the Highway Trust Fund since 2008. None of those patches – $52 billion worth of bailouts in seven years – fixed the problem. And neither will the $10.8 billion authorized by the bill before us today. It will buy us only a few months before we are right back where we are now.

Protecting the First Freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment

Jul 16, 2014

The most extraordinary feature of the bill before us today is the incongruity between its title and its content. The title—the “Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act”—is clear and straightforward. It suggests the bill is aimed at the important and worthy goal of protecting women’s health. But the text of the legislation plainly demonstrates that the true objective of the bill is to circumscribe Americans’ religious liberties within the narrow confines of the Democratic Party’s partisan agenda and the whims of politicians and bureaucrats.

Building a Majority for a Conservative Reform Agenda

Jun 19, 2014

Our ultimate goal is to enact conservative policies that restore the proper role of government, reenergize our economy, and create the conditions in which all Americans have a fair chance to pursue happiness—and find it.

Senator Lee’s Floor Remarks on the Nomination of Sylvia Burwell to Secretary of HHS

May 23, 2014

The Senate is in the process of considering one of the most important presidential nominations of Barack Obama’s second term. Sylvia Burwell, the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was nominated by President Obama to replace Kathleen Sebelius as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is now the Senate’s responsibility to review Ms. Burwell’s candidacy and then vote to confirm or reject the President’s nomination.