Mike Lee

Mr. LEE

Mr. LEE. Because it is not true.

Mr. LEE. I ask unanimous consent to vitiate the appeal--the request that I made. I withdraw the request for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEE. I ask that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, that is not my motion. You have ruled on a motion--you ruled on something that was not what I moved. What I asked was, statements were attributed to me, repeatedly, as to which I have personal knowledge because I am the source. They are not true. I never made those statements. I ask that they be stricken. This has nothing to do with whether or not they are based on depositions, which they are not. It is simply based on the fact that I am the witness. I am the only witness. Those statements are not true, and I ask that you strike them.

Mr. LEE. What may I ask is the ruling of the Chair? My point is not whether it is appropriate to make characterizations; my point was to strike them because they were false.

Mr. LEE. Yes, I have.

Mr. LEE. I appeal the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. LEE. Pursuant to impeachment rule XVI, I make a motion. Statements were attributed to me moments ago by the House impeachment managers, statements relating to the content of conversations between--a phone call involving President Trump and Senator Tuberville--were not made by me, they are not accurate, and they are contrary to fact. I move, pursuant to rule XVI, that they be stricken from the record. UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR. Second.

Mr. LEE

Mr. LEE. Mr. President.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, with due respect to the majority leader, I understand what he is suggesting. But the Senator from Utah has made a motion which has absolutely nothing to do with the number of votes that we are going to be taking tonight. Look, 365 days a year, we are told, as individual Senators, to wait our turn; we will get to vote on whatever we want to vote on if and when we vote on them. This is the one time, with budget vote-arama, where anybody can ask for a vote on anything. Now, I don't see anything wrong with the Senator from Utah's request that we limit the amount of time it takes to vote to the amount of time it takes to call the roll and then to add to that any additional time that might be taken up by waiting for the Vice President in the event of a tie. So I would like to resuggest what the Senator from Utah has asked. That is, I ask unanimous consent that we so limit the amount of time we take to vote to the time it takes to call the roll, subject to the need to wait for Vice President Harris to come and break any tie.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, the Federal Government has become too big and too expensive, and it has been this way for quite a long time. It is not without its impact. It has been borrowing and spending far too much money and doing too many things even before the COVID-19 global pandemic, but this emergency has really shown how badly we need to return to some semblance of federalism, some semblance of Federal restraint with respect to what it does and particularly what it spends. I say this because emergencies, national emergencies, will arise from time to time. It happens. And when those things happen from time to time, the Federal Government will need to expend some significant resources and borrow money. That is exactly why we should not be running multitrillion-dollar deficits at the top of the business cycle to begin with. During a period of significant economic expansion, not a recession, we were already spending more than we had. It makes it much harder for us to respond, be nimble, and do the things we need to do. This has been a long-term problem because Washington, DC, has been centralizing political power and political decision making now for generations. It has not made the Federal Government more effective but, rather, weaker and less effective. It has made it slower, less nimble, more rigid, and inflexible. We need to start turning policy in the other direction, localizing more decisions so all Americans in red States and in blue States alike, regardless of where they live, can live under policies that they are more likely to agree with. That is the beauty of federalism. It allows more Americans to have access to more of the kind of government they want and less of the kind of government they don't want. That is the goal of the budget resolution amendments that I will be introducing this week. I will be introducing a number of amendments, and I will cite a few examples here. First, I am going to propose an amendment to ensure that Congress's voice and the voices of our State governments are heard in the designation of national monuments. Utah has been home to two significant, massive national monument designations over the last 25 years. One thing they both had in common was they were made contrary to the expressed will of local and statewide elected officials and Utah's congressional delegation at the time they were made. These two monument designations in and of themselves are larger than two Delawares. Yet they were made without any input from Congress and without any input from the host State's legislature. The Antiquities Act currently allows this to happen. My amendment would propose that we allow the people's elected representatives in Congress and the affected State legislature to have input. I will also be filing an amendment to ensure full funding for a program known as PILT. PILT is an acronym; it stands for payment in lieu of taxes. It is something very important to public land States like mine. You see, the Federal Government doesn't pay property tax on land that it owns. In a State like mine where the Federal Government owns most of the land--two-thirds of it, in fact--it can be very difficult for many of our communities to survive because without that property tax revenue, they find it difficult to fund everything from schools to search and rescue operations, police and fire services, and so forth. The Federal Government makes up for some of this through this payment program that is supposed to in some ways replicate the property taxes that the taxing authority would otherwise receive, and they call it payment in lieu of taxes. The problem is, they haven't accurately assessed the value of the land. My amendment would call for a more accurate assessment of the land so that these taxing jurisdictions can get what they need. I will also be proposing a significant amendment to increase access of the American people to health savings account systems. HSAs, health savings accounts, do nothing to undermine the efficacy or the prominence of government-run healthcare systems. They do, however, do a lot of good for those who have them. They simply add a private option for American families who would like to make some of their own decisions about how they would like to spend their healthcare dollars. If they would like to spend more on nutritional supplements, they should be able to do that. If they would like to spend more on preventive care, they should be able to do that. HSAs give them the answer, and one of my amendments would expand their opportunities. I will be offering an amendment to streamline the regulations under the environmental law known as NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA has achieved significant environmental gains in this country, but it needs to be updated and modernized so as to make i easier for us to complete infrastructure and construction projects, which have become too slow and too expensive. I have a number of other amendments, including one that would increase the child tax credit significantly in order to further diminish a little-known but pernicious aspect of our Federal Tax Code known as the parent tax penalty. I will be introducing another amendment to increase the recognition and the credit that Americans receive for making charitable contributions--especially important during a global pandemic like this one. I have another amendment protecting Americans' Second Amendment rights, one protecting religious freedom, and one dealing with gasoline tax, which I don't think should be increased, especially during difficult times like these and especially given the regressive nature of the fuel tax. I have another amendment dealing with some legislation I have developed called the PROMISE Act. This would help to make sure that interactive online providers--entities including but not limited to social media platforms--make clear what their standards are, what they will be doing to moderate speech on their platforms, for example, how they will be enforced, and gives them incentive, with possible penalties under law if they deceive their customers about what their policies are and how they will be enforced. The bottom line here is that the Federal Government's size has not been making it stronger or more nimble or more effective; its size and its bureaucracy have undermined its work, from our COVID response to our entitlement crisis, to our dysfunctional welfare system, which, while intended to alleviate poverty and make it rare, has instead sometimes made it longer lasting. Reform doesn't mean just doing the same exact things but spending a little bit less; it means modernizing and streamlining processes and devolving, where appropriate, certain government functions to State and local governments that are closer and more accountable to the people. The way we serve the American people is not just by letting bureaucrats and politicians make decisions for them thousands of miles away in Washington, DC. The way we achieve true, effective government and fair government is by giving all Americans up and down the income scale and across the political spectrum the power to make their own decisions and to make them as locally as possible. Thank you.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LEE

Mr. LEE. I call up my amendment No. 770 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, the Biden administration has taken early and sweeping steps to halt oil and gas leasing on Federal public lands. This, in addition to being dangerous to our Nation's energy security, also presents a very significant economic threat to the stability of communities, especially in public-land States like mine, where most of our energy is found, where their economies are going to be shut down. This amendment would allow the budget numbers to reflect ongoing lease revenues that would go to the States and to the Federal Government. We need this, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

Mr. LEE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 15 seconds to respond.

Mr. LEE. Madam President, there is absolutely nothing in this amendment and absolutely nothing about the suggestion that we ought to respect religious freedom that suggests what my friend and colleague from Illinois has just suggested. It is offensive to the cause of religious freedom. It is contrary to the Supreme Court's ruling in Employment Division v. Smith and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It is contrary to the Constitution for people to sue religious orders, forcing nuns to purchase contraceptive coverage.

Mr. LEE. I ask for the yeas and nays and demand a vote on religious freedom.

Mr. LEE. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEE. Madam President, I call up my amendment numbered 821 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. LEE. Madam President, the right to live by faith--any faith of our choosing or no faith at all, if we choose--is part of what defines us and allows us to live out our lives in dignity and respect. It is also what makes for a well-ordered society. It provides relief for those who are suffering. Members of our communities, citizens of our country, were able to live out their lives with religious freedom prior to the pandemic. With the pandemic and the corresponding growth of government, we have seen some of those rights threatened and infringed. I introduce this amendment for the simple purpose of making sure that we, as the Senate, have the ability to protect the religious freedom of all Americans, even when--especially when--government is growing as a result of a crisis. I urge each of my colleagues to support this and, with it, freedom of religion.

Mr. LEE. I call for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, health savings accounts are good for the American people. They increase the availability that families have--the access that families have to healthcare. They make it more affordable, and they also bring about competition in healthcare, which tends to bring up quality and also bring down cost. That is good for everyone. Now, the expansion of the use of health savings accounts could be encouraged by allowing any health insurance plan to be considered HSA eligible, by increasing the maximum HSA contributions, and by allowing for more preventive and health maintenance expenses to be covered, including the use of dietary supplements and nutritional supplements. This would not directly affect ObamaCare, and expanding HSAs would simply give Americans more opportunities and would bring down cost while increasing the quality of the healthcare they receive. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 253 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. LEE

Mr. LEE. Madam President, 75 percent of Americans, regardless of how they feel on other issues--I understand my colleagues take different positions on issues related to the sanctity of human life. I understand that. As much as I disagree with them, I respect that it is their right to hold that opinion. This bill is about something much narrower, something upon which Americans--75 percent of them--overwhelmingly agree, and that is that we shouldn't be using U.S. foreign aid money to fund or promote abortions overseas. If we can't accept that, it is terribly disappointing and would be news to most Americans. Thank you, Madam President.

Mr. LEE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. 137 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.