Sen. Mike Lee on debt ceiling, spending, classified documents, fight to free Lt. Alkonis

Sen. Mike Lee discussed some of the biggest issues in our Nation’s Capital with Heidi Hatch on Wednesday, Jan. 25. They discussed Classified documents now found in former President Trump’s home, President Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence. They addressed the debt ceiling, how to roll back spending, negotiations on the release of Lt. Ridge Alkonis and the Senator’s top priorities. DEBT CEILING “We've got to raise the death ceiling because it's coming, it's coming at us.” Senator Mike Lee told 2 News Heidi Hatch “The question is not about whether to raise it. It is about what conditions to attach to it.” President Biden is hosting Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House Wednesday for a one on meeting. The White reiterated that there will be no negotiations on the debt ceiling. Lee said that cannot happen. “This doesn't reflect modern realities.” The reality he says is an approaching thirty-two trillion in debt and baseline federal spending that went from “$4 trillion, a year as recently as 2019, to an average of about $6 trillion a year right now, these things aren't sustainable.” Lee sees the goal as getting back to spending at or below 2019 levels. When asked what conditions would be reasonable? Lee said, Senate Republicans have adopted a position, as a conference that anytime they are asked to raise the debt ceiling- “the debt ceiling increase ought to be accompanied by spending cuts, equal to or greater than the value of the debt limit increase or alternatively structural spending reforms.” The Senator noted- The House of Representatives is going to be in the principal driver's seat here. He plans on meeting with his counterparts in the house representatives to find common ground. Senator Lee can is often a reliable no vote on massive spending bills- but if there is to be change- he will need more Senators to do the same. Lee told 2News Heidi Hatch, he is never “the only no vote on these things,” and “there are a growing number of senators and representatives who, who are seeing the devastating consequences of this.” Are Republicans part of the burgeoning debt problem? Lee quickly answered yes. “There's no question that the accumulated debt is a problem of bipartisan creation. If you look back 20 years ago or a national debt was under $5 trillion. It then doubled over the next seven or eight years under a Republican president and under a Democratic president.” It doubled again over the next eight years between a Republican and a Democratic president. “So, yeah, we've contributed to it.” CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TRUMP, BIDEN, PENCE Some of the classified documents found – date back to President Biden's time as a Senator. When asked if there is concern there are other Senators with classified documents at home: “As to senators, it is highly, highly unusual that in a US Senator would have classified documents in his or her personal possession ever. I mean with very, very rare, very unusual exceptions. When we as senators review classified material, which we do all the time, we do it only in the confines of a secured facility known as a SCIF, that documents do not leave, that we don't walk out with them. It would be a felony if we did so.” “As to the broader issue of documents in the possession of President Trump, president Biden, vice President Pence, former Vice President Biden, we're trying to get answers on this.” Lee said that Senators have asked for classified briefings so they can understand what these documents are in “order to understand the full ramifications.” Lee said it is imperative that they know what kind of documents they are dealing with and how they came into possession of them. LT RIDGE ALKONIS Sen. Mike Lee has been working to free Lt. Ridge Alkonis from a Japanese prison where a judge sentenced him to a 3-year term, after an accident where he hit and killed two people. Military doctors believe the Lt. suffered from altitude sickness, passing out while driving. Lee said that in just the last few days he has had follow up conversations with the US Ambassador to Japan, Ambassador Ram Emanuel. “Emmanuel and I have been working on this together closely for many, many months.” Emmanuel helped the Senator visit Alkonis in prison as he worked to negotiate his release. “There have been ongoing conversations, including conversations between President Biden and, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his recent visit to the United States. Lee said there are ongoing efforts to secure his return to the United States, as part of a prisoner transfer agreement. “I remain hopeful and optimistic that we're going to get there and we're going to get there within the next month or two.” CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITES Rein in Federal spending Rein in federal regulations with legislative reform. Competition including Google's power to dominate online advertising. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.