Thought this might be of interest to the board...
Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Plan to Provide More Funding for Kentucky’s Infrastructure Needs
"No matter where I’m meeting with Kentuckians, whether it’s in Pikeville, Paducah, or my office in Washington, the issue of infrastructure is always a top concern," I mentioned in my latest update video, where I went on to say that I heard about many projects in desperate need of funding during my travels around Kentucky last month.
Kentuckians shouldn’t pay the price for a Congress that doesn’t know how to prioritize funding for our nation’s most dire needs over less immediately important ones.
So on Thursday, I introduced a plan to help prioritize funding for Kentucky’s critical infrastructure projects!
My Penny Plan to Enhance Infrastructure Act (filed in the Senate as S. 2792) would cut just one percent from the federal government’s non-infrastructure discretionary spending and direct that money to infrastructure.
Enacting this plan would provide $12.3 billion for new infrastructure spending for 2020 -- without touching Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security!
Spending would be directed toward things such as Highway Infrastructure Programs; airport and airway improvement; railroad infrastructure; waterway improvements, including port infrastructure; military construction; safe and clean drinking water; and rural utility services.
Based on some estimates, this new funding alone could pay for between 2,500 and 6,200 miles of new 4-lane highways, 2,200 miles of 6-lane interstates, or resurface nearly 20,000 miles of existing 4-lane roads.
You can read my bill
HERE, and you can watch my update video
HERE.
My plan would ensure more of your hard-earned tax dollars are allocated to infrastructure projects right here in your communities, not sent overseas or spent on wasteful programs!
(My Penny Plan to Enhance Infrastructure Act Would Guarantee that More of Americans' Tax Dollars are Spent on Actual Priorities.)
Dr. Rand Paul's Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act Passes Senate Committee
In my last report to you, I mentioned my Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, which would take on the big-spending status quo and help us put a stop to problems such as "use it or lose it," last-minute spending binges.
The bill would authorize an agency's Inspector General to pay bonuses of up to $10,000 of savings realized to federal employees who identify surplus or unneeded funds (an expansion of current law allowing such bonuses for identifying waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds). It would also ensure that 90% of the savings go toward reducing the budget deficit.
You can read this bill
HERE.
On Wednesday, the legislation crossed its first hurdle, as it passed the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee! This bill also passed the committee in the 114th Congress, and a version that would apply specifically to the Department of Homeland Security passed the committee last year.
I am pleased to see the committee act quickly to once again pass this reform, and I urge the full Senate to follow its example by taking up the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act as soon as possible.
Passing this legislation would show concerned Americans that the Senate is serious about getting spending under control and returning to fiscal sanity!
Dr. Rand Paul: “Fairness, Tradition, and the Constitution Demand the 'Whistleblower' Step Forward”
In my latest op-ed for
The Hill on Wednesday, I looked at the intent behind whistleblower laws, and I laid out why fairness “requires public testimony and cross-examination of the whistleblower” in the case of the impeachment debate.
“The ability to confront and cross-examine one’s accuser is a key component of our judicial process, critical to finding truth. Whistleblower statutes are a good thing as long as they don’t attempt to limit the ability to cross-examine your accuser,” I said in the piece.
I also noted the hypocrisy we are currently seeing in Washington, saying, “It’s funny that before THIS whistleblower, many who are now criticizing my stance chose not to defend perhaps the greatest whistleblower of all time -- Snowden.”
You can read my full op-ed
HERE.
The same day I released the op-ed, I also took to the Senate floor to block a motion by Democrats regarding the whistleblower and to instead offer my own Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019.
This bill, filed in the Senate as S. 2798, makes the following needed reforms: 1.) extends whistleblower protections to all federal government contractors, not just federal employees or contractors within the intelligence community; 2.) retroactively gives that protection to contractors, including Edward Snowden; and 3.) reaffirms that whistleblower protections do not supersede the right of the accused to confront his or her accuser in a criminal proceeding or impeachment.
"I support whistleblowers, and I do think that they have a role to play in keeping government accountable," I said on the floor. "They shouldn't lose their jobs or be prosecuted because of their willingness to speak. But what we have seen over the last few years is that we have a system that we should continue to refine," I continued before going into further detail about how badly the president's current critics reacted to Snowden when he bravely made his revelations -- revelations that led to reform.
"So, really, I think that the outrage we see here is selective outrage, and it is because they are intent on overturning the election of the people. They are intent on removing Trump from office no matter what, and they will use whatever means they can to do it," I stated.
"My bill would make clear that the Sixth Amendment is not superseded by statutes, and that the president should be afforded the same rights that we all should: to understand the nature of the allegations brought against them and to face their accuser," I later added.
You can watch my speech offering my bill
HERE.
The Democrats went on to object to my bill, but I will continue fighting to make sure the vital right of being able to face one's accuser is respected.
(After my speech, I tweeted about an especially memorable moment. You can find that video HERE.)