July 22, 2014 - Mobile Office Visit Fillmore
Jul 14, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to Fillmore City
When: Tuesday July, 22 2014 @ 10:30-12:00 PM
Where: Fillmore @ Territorial State House, 50 West Capital Avenue Fillmore, UT 84631
July 22, 2014 - Mobile Office Visit Richfield
Jul 14, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to Richfield City
When: Tuesday 22 July 2014 @ 5:15-6:45 PM
Where: Sevier County Courthouse, 250 North Main, Richfield, UT 84701
July 22, 2014 - Mobile Office Visit Delta
Jul 14, 2014
Mobile Office Visit To Delta City
When: Tuesday July 22, 2014 @ 2:00-3:30 PM
Where: Delta Community Center, 75 West Main Street, Delta, UT 84624
Protecting the First Amendment
Jul 10, 2014
Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Grassley, Members of the Committee: each one of us, upon arrival to the United States Senate, swore a sacred oath—to ourselves, to each other, and to our fellow Americans—pledging to defend and support the Constitution of the United States.
In taking this oath, before God and country, each of us made a solemn promise to be bound—above all other loyalties and partialities—by our allegiance to the Constitution.
We do this because we are made free by God, but it is this document, and our commitment to uphold it, that keeps us free.
I am deeply dismayed that today, we gather here to consider a proposal—S. J. Res 19—that would considerably weaken the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The primary argument in support of this amendment is that “money isn’t speech.” Of course money is not the same thing as speech. Money is simply a tool used to carry out other activities.
But if Congress had the power to restrict the use of money to speak, the exercise of that power would unavoidably interfere with people’s ability to speak.
Freedom of speech is not simply one among many liberties protected in the Bill of Rights—it is absolutely essential to the health of our Republic. This is especially true of political speech, even when it contradicts the prevailing order.
As Justice Powell put it in Gertz v. Welch (1974): “Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.”
But it doesn’t take a complicated constitutional exposition to see what this proposed amendment is really about: power…giving it to sitting Members of Congress and taking it away from the American people, including, not coincidentally, any potential candidate that might like to challenge a sitting Member of Congress.
As we have seen in the unfolding scandal at the Internal Revenue Service, there is a permanent temptation facing those in power to muzzle dissent—and a permanent inclination to deceive oneself into thinking that such a temptation does not exist.
This is precisely why we have a written Constitution that checks those in authority and prevents the kind of proposal represented here today.
In Federalist 51, James Madison, the lead author of our Constitution, anticipated debates in which we’re engaged today, and he makes perfectly clear the folly of an amendment such as S. J. Res 19.
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary,” Madison wrote. “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”
One of the most important of such “auxiliary precautions” is the First Amendment and its protections of the freedom of speech.
The proposed amendment would cripple this protection and irrevocably damage our most precious possession as Americans: our freedom.
For these reasons, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting against the proposed amendment.
July 8, 2014 Mobile Office Visit - Garden City
Jul 8, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to Garden City
When: Tuesday, July 8, 2014, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Where: City Hall, Bldg. C, Lakeview Room – 69 N. Paradise Pkwy., Garden City, UT
When: Tuesday, July 8, 2014, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Where: City Hall, Bldg. C, Lakeview Room – 69 N. Paradise Pkwy., Garden City, UT
Reaching Out to Utah's Veterans
Jul 7, 2014
At the end of May, I sent a newsletter to highlight some of the important work my staff had conducted on behalf of Utah's veterans. At the time, I also announced a series of events that my staff and I would attend to stay engaged with veterans across the state of Utah.
Over the last few weeks, my staff and I have been busy maintaining an open dialogue with Utah's veterans and those who have been entrusted to their care.
Utah Honor Flight
I was pleased to be a part of the Utah Honor Flight, which gives veterans the opportunity to travel to DC at no cost to visit and be honored at their memorials. During their three day event, they visited the Vietnam and Lincoln memorials, Washington Monument, and Iwo Jima Memorial. The also toured Arlington Cemetery where they witnessed the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknow Soldier. Veterans are honored at a banquet in DC and presented medals to thank them for their service. I was honored to have had the pleasure of meeting with these veterans at the WWII Memorial in Washington DC.
Bus to Escort Veterans to Airport
A Proud Navy Girl
An Honorable Send Off
Several members of my staff attended the send off and welcome home ceremonies in Utah.
Welcoming the Heroes Home
Local Trucking Company Honors Veterans
On June 20, my office attended an event hosted by C.R. England to honor Utah’s veterans. C.R. England is a local trucking company and the largest temperature-controlled carrier in the world. The company unveiled two new veteran-branded trucks that they are adding to the fleet that veterans will drive. I was glad my staff could be part of this great event to show support for our veterans
Flag Retirement Ceremony
I also asked representatives of my office to attend the Provo Freedom Festival's Flag Retirement Ceremony held on Flag Day, Saturday, June 14, 2014. Jim Evans (former Mayor of Orem) conducted the ceremony. The Girl Scouts did an informative presentation on the evolution of the flag. The Boy Scouts participated in the retirement portion of the ceremony. Four flags were retired (burned) in honor of the Gold Star families, Blue Star families, POW's and MIA’s.
Retiring Old Glory
Veteran Focused Mobile Office Visit
On June 26, 2014, my mobile office was set up at the George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. My staff members Emily Wiscombe, Jessica Christopher, Ben Haymond and Ryan Wilcox were on hand to meet with individuals.
The home adds an $11 million economic boost to the local economy while providing a valuable service to those who have given so much for us.
Upcoming events
My mobile office will be making several visits to veteran communities and centers across the state over the coming weeks. You can subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates to attend these events. I will also hold a veteran-focused town hall meeting in August so members of the community can ask questions and give me their thoughts directly. Once the time and location of this event is finalized, I will provide more information. I appreciate the valuable feedback I receive during these events.
Two Lessons from the Founders
Jul 4, 2014
This weekend as Americans all over the country gather to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day we should all take a moment—in the midst of our barbecues, firework displays, and outdoor festivities—to commemorate this holiday by reading aloud the Declaration of Independence, America’s great charter of freedom.
Beyond the rhetorical eloquence of the document, the Declaration of Independence is worth reciting on its anniversary because its words remind us of the permanent and universal truths to which the founding of our nation was dedicated.
For the purpose of the document was not to declare America’s independence from Britain—that was done by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776—but to justify it. As such, the Declaration sets down the timeless principles—about human nature and the nature of government—that would unite the separate colonies into a single union and commit them to a common cause.
Contained within these principles are two major political teachings meant to guide the future of the fledgling nation and lay the foundation for America’s new government.
First, because all men and women are “created equal”—that is, each has an equal claim to govern their own lives—government must derive its “just powers from the consent of the governed.” Second, since all human beings “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” the primary purpose of government is “to secure these rights,” chief among which are the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Some may try to claim that these foundational principles are simply relics of a bygone era, but the political teachings of the Declaration of Independence—and the self-evident truths upon which they rest—are as true and relevant today as they were in 1776.
As Calvin Coolidge put it, “About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful.”
“If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.”
Though our society has advanced a great deal since 1776, Coolidge explained, “no progress can be made beyond” the propositions of “this great charter.” Any denial of the truths of the Declaration is a movement “not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people.”
Yet our government today has grown so powerful and so unaccountable that it poses a serious challenge to Silent Cal’s conviction.
The moral and political wisdom expressed in the Declaration of Independence may be true at all times and in all places, but we cannot expect this wisdom inevitably to prevail in our society and in our government.
Indeed, the fate of the American experiment in self-government depends on whether or not the principles of the Declaration remain alive in the hearts and minds of the people and their representatives.
For those of us who are concerned about the perpetual dysfunction and unsustainability of today’s government, it’s important to remember that advocating for the revival of America’s founding principles does not mean that we should return to the government we had 200 years ago.
Our founding principles are not an answer key, but a road map—an eternal reference point to guide us as we attempt to solve contemporary social problems. To fix our big, broken government, we must turn for guidance to these principles and figure out how to apply them to the great challenges of our generation.
Rather than focus only on reducing the size of government, we need a comprehensive reform agenda to address the increasing immobility among the poor, insecurity in the middle class, and special-interest privilege among well-connected Washington insiders.
An anti-poverty, upward mobility, and anti-cronyist agenda would replace our distant, unresponsive, bureaucratic government programs with policies that build on, rather than crowd out, the institutions that are best suited to solve our social problems: a free enterprise economy, voluntary civil society, and local and state governments.
Guided by the wisdom of the Declaration, such an agenda would make government more accountable to the people and better able to fulfill its primary purpose of securing the rights of the citizens.
July 2, 2014 Mobile Office Visit - West Point City
Jul 2, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to West Point City
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 9:00 - 11:00 am
Where: West Point City Hall, 3200 West 300 North
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 9:00 - 11:00 am
Where: West Point City Hall, 3200 West 300 North
July 2, 2014 Mobile Office Visit - Layton
Jul 2, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to Layton
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Where: City Hall, 437 N. Wasatch Drive
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Where: City Hall, 437 N. Wasatch Drive
July 2, 2014 Mobile Office Visit - Clinton
Jul 2, 2014
Mobile Office Visit to Clinton
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Where: City Hall, City Council Chambers, 2267 North 1500 West
When: Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Where: City Hall, City Council Chambers, 2267 North 1500 West
