Mike Lee, August Town Hall Conference

Mike Lee, August Town Hall conference

These are notes I took of Senator Lee’s latest town hall.

Prison reform: he and two other senators met with President Trump to discuss the bill. Dem. Dick Durbin and others are also working on reform. They hope to pass the bill later this year
Budget bill: Democrats and Republicans are both to blame. They passed the budget in the middle of the night. The bill was handed to Congress at 8:45 pm
How are you not sucked into the swamp? It does not appeal to me. I find freedom is important.
What do you think of the problem caused by the counsel for foreign relations? The problems are broader than just them. They have a mindset that the US needs to be the world policeman. They support involvement in the Yamen civil war.
Yamen civil war. Barny Sanders and I plus others presented a bill to discontinue participation in the Yamen civil war. The bill was narrowly defeated.
Status of Judge Kavanaugh? Does feel he will be confirmed before fall elections. It will pass 50-49 we’ll win and with maybe also have 3-4 Democrats join us.
Many of the President’s nomination have later been accused of unethical behavior. How to avoid voting for unethical people. I’m, not a rubber stamp, I study the people before I vote.
Why is cities and states leaders not arrested for supporting sanctuary cities and resisting law? The US dept. of justice has scarce resources. That means a priority of enforcement needs to be made. Also, trying to arrest a state governor could put some constitution laws be put in conflict.
Public Lands. 2/3 of Utah is owned by federal government. 1/3 of our nation is owned by the Federal government. That land can’t be taxed to pay for school. Federal ownership and control also hurts state with state economics and jobs. Want to do legation so that the state can manage and own their own land.
Gun reform: An AR 15 very similar to a hunting rifle. A machine gun purchase requires a special permit. When making a gun law we need to balance it so that the citizen can still keep the ability for a citizen to protect themselves and to discourage criminals.
Ethanol: the regulatory mandates are bad. Making ethanol makes food more expensive. The environment is negatively influenced by the subsidies.
First amendment; objected: it shall be unlawful to publish … blueprint or info about 3-d printers. I spoke before Congress to object. I object to the stopping of the first amendment. We need to protect the structure setting of the constitution to provide protection.