{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"KY\" and year = 2016 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-airs-spending-grievances-special-festivus-edition-waste-report/", "Dr. Rand Paul Airs Spending Grievances with Special \u2018Festivus\u2019 Edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2016-12-21", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released a special \u201cFestivus: Airing of Grievances for 2016\u201d edition of \u201cThe Waste Report,\u201d an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn its second year, Dr. Paul\u2019s Festivus edition features 37 examples of wasteful spending, misplaced priorities, and bad management in the federal government that have cost taxpayers nearly two billion dollars.\n\nHighlights include: over $300,000 on TVs that sat waiting on a renovation project and turned out to be the wrong kind, $594,000 to subsidize Washington, D.C.-area concerts against the National Park Service\u2019s wishes, $1,250,000 to produce a superhero cartoon in Pakistan, and $6,000,000 to renovate a Fort Belvoir cafeteria that closed permanently months later.\n\nNot to mention sea monsters, shady land deals, dating, and selfies. . . you can find all this and more in Dr. Paul\u2019s special Festivus \u201cWaste Report\u201d HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:09:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-paul-murphy-franken-lee-applaud-decision-halt-some-military-arms-sales-saudi-arabia-call/", "Paul, Murphy, Franken, Lee Applaud Decision to Halt Some Military Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, Call for Further Actions", "2016-12-15", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Bipartisan group of senators has voiced concerns over U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia\u2019s military actions in Yemen\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN), and Mike Lee (R-UT) applauded a decision by the White House to halt some military arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but urged further action to end military support for a war marked by humanitarian abuses. Saudi Arabia has led a military campaign in Yemen with devastating humanitarian consequences and a security vacuum that has empowered U.S. terrorist enemies, al Qaeda, and ISIS. Senators Paul, Murphy, Franken, and Lee have been outspoken about their concerns that U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia\u2019s military actions in Yemen threatens our own national security interests.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m pleased to see the administration respond to growing pressure over its arms sales to Saudi Arabia,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cHalting this $350 million sale is a positive start, but it is only a drop in the bucket of the administration\u2019s total support. Until President Obama ends his unilateral, unconstitutional involvement in this regional war, our voices will only get louder.\u201d\n\nSen. Murphy said, \u201cHalting these weapons sales to the Saudis is the right call. But if we are concerned about U.S.-supplied bombs being dropped on civilians, we should also stop refueling the Saudi planes that are flying those missions. Both the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi-Saleh alliance have been responsible for killing innocent civilians and denying vitally needed humanitarian aid. Any further assistance \u2013 including weapons deliveries already in the pipeline \u2013 should be conditioned on prioritizing civilian protection and a willingness to compromise in political negotiations to end the war.\u201d\n\n\u201cThousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in the U.S.-backed war in Yemen,\u201d said Sen. Franken. \u201cThis is a tragedy that we cannot continue to support. I\u2019m hopeful that this decision begins to send the message that the United States is not going to turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia\u2019s indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children. This is an important step, one that we called for in Congress, but we need to keep pressing for more action.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile this announcement may signal that the administration is finally beginning to understand the contradictions of their policy towards Yemen, our military is still involved in a war without authorization from Congress with no justifiable strategy,\u201d Sen. Lee said. \u201cFrom day-one Congress should begin to engage the incoming administration on reviewing the international entanglements in which our country has become involved.\u201d\n\nIn September, Senators Paul, Murphy, Franken, and Lee introduced a joint resolution of disapproval, S.J.Res 39, to block the $1.15 billion U.S. sale of Abrams tanks and associated major defense articles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In April, Senators Paul and Murphy introduced a separate joint resolution to increase Congressional oversight of military sales to Saudi Arabia by requiring the President of the United States to formally certify that the Government of Saudi Arabia is demonstrating an ongoing effort to target terrorist groups, minimize harm to civilians, and facilitate humanitarian assistance before Congress can consider the sale or transfer of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:09:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-sen-rand-paul-msnbc-you-want-your-chief-diplomat-be-diplomat/", "ICYMI: Sen. Rand Paul on MSNBC: \u2018You Want Your Chief Diplomat To Be A Diplomat\u2019", "2016-11-16", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This morning, U.S. Senator Rand Paul joined MSNBC\u2019s \u201cMorning Joe\u201d to continue discussing his opposition to the consideration of former Ambassador John Bolton for Secretary of State. During the interview, he explained the importance of appointing someone with a \u201crealist\u201d point of view on foreign policy, as well as the need for our country\u2019s \u201cchief diplomat to be a diplomat, not a bomb thrower.\u201d\n\nSen. Paul also discussed the potential selection of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to the position.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL ON MSNBC\u2019s \u201cMORNING JOE\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:07:19Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-sen-rand-paul-discusses-consideration-bolton-giuliani-sec-state/", "ICYMI: Sen. Rand Paul Discusses Consideration of Bolton, Giuliani for Sec. of State", "2016-11-15", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul appeared on CNN\u2019s \u201cWolf\u201d with Wolf Blitzer to talk about his opposition to the consideration of former Ambassador John Bolton for Secretary of State. Sen. Paul explained why Bolton, a well-known supporter of the Iraq War and regime change, does not represent President-Elect Trump\u2019s promise of change and would be \u201ctotally unfit\u201d to be Secretary of State.\n\nSen. Paul also discussed the potential selection of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to the position.\n\nYou can read Sen. Paul\u2019s op-ed from today on this issue HERE.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL ON CNN\u2019s \u201cWOLF\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:07:19Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-lawmakers-push-feds-clarify-conflicting-rules-growing-and-selling-hemp/", "Lawmakers Push Feds to Clarify Conflicting Rules on Growing and Selling Hemp", "2016-10-27", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After new guidance created widespread confusion about when and where farmers can grow, research, and sell industrial hemp in the United States, U.S. Senators Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Representatives Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Jared Polis, D-Colo., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and 14 other members of Congress today pushed three federal agencies to clarify parts of the guidance that conflict with current laws.\n\nIn August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a \u201cstatement of principles\u201d to inform the public about industrial hemp grown in the United States. However, the announcement has created confusion for state agriculture departments and universities working to establish pilot programs to study the cultivation and potential commercial uses for industrial hemp.\n\nIn addition to establishing a new definition of industrial hemp, the guidance could also have a limiting effect on sales and transportation of products made from hemp in states conducting pilot projects across the country. Currently, federal law prohibits American farmers from growing industrial hemp for commercial profit, but retail sales of products made with hemp are legal, and make up a $570 million industry annually.\n\nThe 2014 Farm Bill allowed state agriculture departments and universities to conduct industrial hemp research pilot programs in states that have authorized the growing and production of industrial hemp, including Kentucky, Oregon, Colorado, and twenty five other states.\n\n\u201cWe are writing to comment on the recent progress the Administration has made with regards to industrial hemp and to urge further action to ensure that this important industry can thrive,\u201d the members wrote in a letter to the USDA, DEA, and FDA.\n\n\u201cIndustrial hemp research and farming have opened doors for students, farmers, and small businesses in our states. At our universities, students and researchers are experiencing new learning opportunities, such as researching hemp for fuel, food, and clothing.\u201d\n\nPaul, Wyden, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act last year to lift the federal ban on domestic farming of industrial hemp. The bill would remove hemp from the Schedule I controlled substance list under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and would define it as a non-drug so long as it contains less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The bill now has 14 other bipartisan co-sponsors. Massie introduced the House version of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, which now has 74 cosponsors, including Blumenauer and Polis.\n\nThe letter was signed by Sens. Paul, Wyden, Merkley, Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Representatives Massie, Blumenauer, Polis, Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Eleanor Homes Norton, D-D.C., Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., John Yarmuth, D-Ky., Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Sam Farr, D-Calif.\n\nIndustrial hemp is used throughout the world in thousands of products, including paper, fabrics, lotions, canvas, rope, and construction material.\n\nYou can read the full text of the letter here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-selfie-waste/", "A Selfie of Waste", "2016-10-25", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nHow often have you wondered how taking a \u201cselfie\u201d and other pictures impacts your happiness? Thanks to a $500,000 National Science Foundation grant, taxpayers helped researchers at the University of California, Irvine find out.\n\nToday\u2019s \u201cWaste Report\u201d details the results. You can find it HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nSelfies, pictures of food, a beautiful sunset \u2026 we see them all over social media. While these pictures might make us smile, does taking them actually make us happier? That is a question you paid a group of researchers at the University of California, Irvine to answer.\n\nThe study, released earlier this year, found that taking pictures with your smartphone can actually make you happier and, in some instances, more calm.[1] What probably will make you less happy and calm is that this study was partially funded by a $500k National Science Foundation grant \u2013 your tax dollars.[2]\n\nInstead of using existing technology, the researchers developed two smartphone apps (one overlaid the other) for participants to take photos and record their moods. This resulted in 17.5 percent of participants dropping out of the study in the first week due to \u201csystem incompatibility issues.\u201d[3] That probably made no one happy.\n\nNonetheless, could it be that pulling out your phone and snapping pictures is the secret to happiness? Well, not so fast. You cannot just take any picture \u2013 it seems the key to happy snapping (at least based on this study) is taking pictures of happy things. Who knew?\n\nThe study broke participants up into three groups who, for three weeks, took pictures of themselves smiling, things that made them happy, or, for the third group, things they thought would make someone else happy (which they then sent to that person). Not surprisingly, taking happiness-focused pictures showed a positive effect on all three groups\u2019 moods.[4]\n\nOne might not expect that if you told someone to drive to a place that makes them happy every day for three weeks, and that person showed an improvement in their mood, you could conclude driving makes people happy. So, what happens when happiness is not in the frame (pun intended)? We do not know. In fact, the study did not include a control group of participants taking random pictures or even selfies where they did not intentionally smile.\n\nRegardless of this flaw in the research, one has to wonder if selfie studies are really the kind of research your tax dollars should be spent on.\n\nSo, if this has made you less happy, sit back, smile, and take a selfie\u2026it might help\u2026but probably not.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-named-taxpayers-friend/", "Dr. Rand Paul Named \u2018Taxpayers\u2019 Friend\u2019", "2016-10-24", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) honored U.S. Senator Rand Paul with its 2015 \u201cTaxpayers\u2019 Friend Award\u201d for his commitment to fiscal responsibility, limited government, and lower taxes in the first session of the 114th Congress.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to speak out for Kentuckians by saying \u2018no\u2019 to deeper debt and higher taxes,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cEvery vote against failed status-quo policies is a vote for more opportunity, more growth, and more prosperity for Kentucky, and I\u2019m pleased to be named a \u2018Taxpayers\u2019 Friend\u2019 by the National Taxpayers Union.\u201d\n\n\u201cWinning the Taxpayers\u2019 Friend Award is no easy feat,\u201d said NTU President Pete Sepp. \u201cIt takes a daily commitment to cast principled votes that put the Americans who pay government\u2019s bills first.\u201d\n\nNTU based its \u201cTaxpayer Score\u201d on 141 Senate and 267 House votes that affected fiscal policy in 2015, with Dr. Paul receiving an \u201cA\u201d rating for his consistent record. Only 57 members of Congress were recognized with the \u201cTaxpayers\u2019 Friend Award\u201d for 2015.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-school-waste/", "The School of Waste", "2016-10-19", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u201cThe Waste Report,\u201d an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThis week\u2019s special, two-page Report features a $2.9 million hit to the taxpayers, a land deal where one person became \u201cthe seller, buyer, financer, and payer,\u201d and a series of events that a fiction publisher might even reject for being too ridiculous.\n\nYou can read the entire, shocking story in this week\u2019s \u201cWaste Report\u201d HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nIn 2005, the private, non-profit Hope Academy (Hope) in coastal Mississippi suffered flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina\u2019s storm surge. Hope was eligible for federal Public Assistance grants to rebuild. However, as the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security details in a recent report, with the federal taxpayers footing the bill, Hope wanted more.[1] Through unsupported claims, unethical deals, and multiple appeals, almost 10 years after Katrina, the taxpayer is currently out $2.9 million.\n\nThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would have paid to mitigate the damages to the Hope Academy and elevate their building. However, Hope claimed rebuilding its original facility would be inadequate for it to service 90 students, its K-12 enrollment prior to the storm. Instead of rebuilding its 5,770 sq. ft. building, Hope claimed it now needed a new 13,319 sq. ft. (about 2.3 times larger) facility.[2] Of course, had the storm not hit, they presumably would have served those students in the old building. Nonetheless, after some back and forth, including appeals to the regional FEMA office, FEMA eventually agreed in 2010 to pay for the larger school.\n\nUpon gaining approval for a larger school building, Hope then claimed its 2/3rds of an acre lot was just too small and asked the taxpayers to pay an additional $1.4 million for a new 16-acre property (we will come back to this).[3]\n\nWere there 90 students?\n\nThe larger facility and the new property were all predicated on an enrollment of 90 students at the time Katrina hit, a claim the IG questioned and asserted Hope never sufficiently demonstrated. The IG reviewed the physical profile of the old school building and found it wasn\u2019t \u201ccredible that these five separate rooms would be adequate to educate 90 students in 13 different grade levels.\u201d[4] Throughout the process, FEMA had apparently taken Hope\u2019s word on its enrollment.\n\nAs part of their investigation, the IG asked Hope to provide some additional proof of its 2005 student population, including student names, tuition receipts, tax filings, payroll checks, etc. Hope claimed all their records were destroyed in the storm, and that the bank no longer kept records from 2005. Hope also said it was not required to file state or federal income tax returns, and that it paid its staff as contractors, so it did not withhold payroll taxes. What is all the more odd is that one document Hope did provide was a canceled check for tax services, which would seem unnecessary for an entity not filing taxes.[5]\n\nAs to the student names, Hope could only recall 13 names of its supposed 90 students. Further, one former student from 2005 told the IG they only recalled there being about 40 students at the school.[6]\n\nA Shady Land Deal\n\nWe said we\u2019d come back to the land. It turns out the 16 acres Hope needed (for its new building) were about 40 percent wetlands and were owned by the president of Hope\u2019s Board of Directors. In fact, the Board President did not recuse himself from the transaction, and, as the IG reports, \u201csigned as purchaser and seller on the closing documents for the land purchase, as well as the authorized signer on the check used to pay the seller [himself].\u201d[7]\n\nActing as seller of the land, the Board President hired (although Hope reimbursed the cost) three separate appraisers. The IG questioned the appraisals, noting that \u201c[a]ll three appraisal amounts were very close, with two presenting the exact same value of $1,600,000 [despite using different site descriptions].\u201d[8] Hope itself had no appraisal done and settled (with its own Board President) on a $1.4 million price \u2013 or $92k an acre (including for wetland acres).\n\nFEMA disagreed with the $92k-an-acre price (thinking it should be more like $45k) and did not want to pay for unusable wetlands. Hope turned to the Arbitrations Board, which landed between the two prices, awarding $40k an acre for the usable land but also awarding $19k an acre for the wetlands, putting taxpayers on the hook for about $500k. In their review, the IG valued the land at about $26k an acre for the usable portion and $5k an acre for the wetlands \u2013 a total of $276k.[9]\n\nFurther, in anticipation of being reimbursed by the federal taxpayer for the land purchase, \u201cthe seller (i.e., the Board President) financed the loan \u2026. This would make Hope\u2019s Board President the seller, buyer, financer, and payer in this land transaction.\u201d[10] However, the ultimate payers were really FEMA and the federal taxpayer. The IG labeled the whole land transaction as unethical.[11]\n\nA New School, a New Community\n\nThe FSO Subcommittee was interested in Hope\u2019s current status, and what we found was pretty amazing.\n\nThose 16 acres Hope bought were nowhere near the original school site in D\u2019Iberville, MS, nor were they just some vacant property. Instead, the new location was about 15 miles away in Gulfport, MS, in a brand-new housing development called Florence Gardens (FG) \u2013 \u201ca pristine master-planned community.\u201d[12]\n\nFG is still selling lots, and its website includes a banner link to \u201cOur School,\u201d[13] which is clearly meant to be a selling point for a community branded as family oriented. On the \u201cOur School\u201d page, FG boasts of its new 13,000 sq. ft. building with space to grow, \u201cstate-of-the-art technology,\u201d and furniture made of antimicrobial materials.[14] FG\u2019s \u201cAmenities\u201d page also references Hope.\n\nThe federal taxpayer probably paid for some of that technology and furniture. Even though Hope officials could only recall 13 students, they were able to produce a 15-page list (from memory) of items destroyed in the storm and asked FEMA for nearly $800k. FEMA lowered the amount to just shy of $500k, but the IG thinks even that number is exaggerated; Hope had an insurance policy for the school\u2019s contents with a maximum payout of just $17,200.[15]\n\nNonetheless, Hope got a bigger building, more land, and new equipment. The Board President sold some land, and Florence Gardens got a school to support its family friendly, neighborly model. It all only cost taxpayers $2.9 million.\n\nOh, and one more thing. Care to guess the identity of the CEO of Florence Gardens? Yep, it\u2019s the same Board President who acted as both buyer and seller of the 16-acre property.[16]\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-named-guardian-small-business/", "Dr. Rand Paul Named \u2018Guardian of Small Business\u2019", "2016-10-17", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "LEXINGTON, KY \u2013 This morning, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) presented U.S. Senator Rand Paul with its \u201cGuardian of Small Business Award\u201d in recognition of his pro-small business record in Congress. The award was given to Dr. Paul by Tom Underwood, NFIB Kentucky State Director.\n\n\u201cEvery day, small business owners do more with less to make big things happen,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cThey\u2019re risk-takers and innovators who quietly sacrifice to realize their dreams. I\u2019m honored to receive this award, and I will proudly keep working to ensure Kentucky\u2019s small businesses can thrive free from unnecessary government burdens.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-returns-over-3-million-us-taxpayers/", "Dr. Rand Paul Returns Over $3 Million to U.S. Taxpayers", "2016-10-17", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced today that he saved more than $620,000 from his official FY 2016 operating budget, bringing the total amount Dr. Paul has returned to the taxpayers to over $3,000,000 since taking office in January 2011.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s easy to picture Washington\u2019s out-of-control spending as a massive, untamable beast,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cSo I determined to show change is possible by starting in the area under my control, while working everywhere else I could to stop \u2018business as usual.\u2019\n\n\u201cI promised Kentuckians I would stand for smaller, more efficient government, balanced budgets, and spending restraint. I\u2019m proud my staff and I have kept that pledge while operating one of the most active federal offices.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul has also led the way for reform by introducing a five-year balanced budget and issuing a weekly \u201cWaste Report\u201d to shine a spotlight on reckless federal spending.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-epas-bulk-buy-transit-subsidy-gone-wrong/", "EPA\u2019s Bulk-Buy Transit Subsidy Gone Wrong", "2016-10-12", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u201cThe Waste Report,\u201d an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIs a bulk discount always the best deal? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) answered that question the hard way when it recently overspent taxpayer funds by more than $135,000 to buy mass transit passes in bulk.\n\nThis waste happened despite the King County Transit Authority issuing a clear caution and even providing a worksheet to check the math. You can get the full story in today\u2019s \u201cWaste Report\u201d HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nCall it the Costco dilemma: you have to buy 36 eggs at once, but the price per egg is less than at the grocery store. Will you eat that many eggs (about 2 a day) before they go bad? If the answer is \u201cNO,\u201d you may actually lose money on the \u201cdeal.\u201d In economics, it is called the law of diminishing marginal utility,[1] and, unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got a lesson in economics when it lost over $135K of taxpayers\u2019 money buying mass transit passes in bulk.[2]\n\nSince 1993, federal agencies have had the ability to provide a mass transit subsidy to employees as a fringe benefit, which is also aimed at reducing pollution and traffic congestion.[3] So it is no surprise that the EPA office in Seattle (a city known for environmental awareness and traffic congestion) would choose to offer this subsidy to its employees.\n\nUnfortunately, according to the Inspector General (IG) for the EPA, in 2014 and 2015, the EPA missed the forest for the trees on bulk purchases of mass transit passes. In an effort to get a bulk-buy discount, the EPA-Seattle bought annual mass transit passes for ALL of its employees, not just the ones signed up for the transit subsidy, resulting in the EPA, even with the discount, paying over $135k more than it would have otherwise.[4]\n\nThe King County Transit Authority (from whom the passes were purchased) makes no secret that an employer must buy a \u201cBusiness Passport\u201d for \u201cevery benefits-eligible employee\u201d in order to get the discount.[5] They also include the following caution on their website: \u201cIf you already subsidize transportation for some employees, we recommend that you compare your current transportation expenditure to the cost of Passport for all your employees.\u201d[6] King County even provides prospective Passport clients with a worksheet to compare the cost of subsidizing just transit users with purchasing passes for all employees.\n\nSo, did someone at the EPA just fill the worksheet out wrong? Forget to carry the one? Not at all, according to the IG. Their report states that the \u201ctransit subsidy team did not believe cost calculations were applicable because discounted annual transit passes were only available if passes were purchased for all employees.\u201d[7]\n\nSure, it cost more in the end, but we got the discount!!!\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-creates-faster-path-treatments-new-fda-legislation/", "Dr. Rand Paul Creates Faster Path for Treatments with New FDA Legislation", "2016-10-05", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul has introduced S. 3466, the Accelerating New Pharmaceutical Competition Act, to reduce red tape at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by fast tracking FDA approval of medicines and devices that have met safety and efficacy standards in other developed nations. Unnecessary bureaucratic delays have kept more EpiPen alternatives off U.S. markets, contributing toward a virtual monopoly over auto-injected epinephrine and further inflating the treatment\u2019s prices.\n\n\u201cCompetition is essential to expanding access to a wider variety of affordable options for patients,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cTreatments proven by rigorous testing in other developed countries to be effective and safe shouldn\u2019t have to jump redundant hurdles to get to U.S. markets. Congress can immediately address the massive spikes in prescription drug prices by passing this legislation.\u201d\n\nYou can find the text of the Accelerating New Pharmaceutical Competition Act HERE. You can find a summary of the bill\u2019s provisions below.\n\nThe Accelerating New Pharmaceutical Competition Act, S. 3466\n\nAllows sponsors of drugs approved in Europe and other developed countries to be able to show safety and efficacy to the FDA without repeating lengthy and costly clinical trials.\n\nRequires the FDA to act on these foreign-approved applications within 90 days, or the drug product is presumed to be approved and may come to market.\n\nRemoves the automatic 30-month stay of market approval for generic drug applications that are the subject of ongoing patent litigation. Rather, the bill would give full authority to the court to determine whether to shorten or lengthen such a stay.\n\nFast tracks the approval of generic drugs in cases where there is a sole source or limited competition by requiring the FDA to act on those applications within 150 calendar days.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-one-small-step-waste-one-giant-leap-wastekind/", "One Small Step for Waste, One Giant Leap for Wastekind", "2016-10-04", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nWe all learned, \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind\u201d in school, but is that what Neil Armstrong really said during his 1969 moon landing? A recent study drew on two National Science Foundation grants, totaling more than $700,000 of taxpayer money, to find out why we may have heard something different than what Armstrong claimed he actually said.\n\nToday\u2019s Report details if they succeeded and reveals the intended purpose of the grants, which did not even mention Armstrong. You can find \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nWhen Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in 1969, he uttered certainly some of the most famous words in human history: \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.\u201d Or did he? Armstrong said that he was misquoted by having an \u201ca\u201d omitted from his statement, claiming it should have been \u201cstep for [a] man.\u201d[1]\n\nQuite the earth-shattering controversy we have on our hands here. Nope? Not interested? Don\u2019t care? Well, maybe you will care about this: the National Science Foundation helped fund a study which brought together researchers from four major universities[2] to find the missing \u201ca.\u201d To explain the mystery, researchers even sought out subjects with dialectal familiarity to Armstrong \u2013 people from Ohio.[3]\n\nThe study drew on two NSF grants totaling more than $700k.[4] Though the research was just published this month, one of the grants came from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[5] \u201cShovel ready\u201d indeed.\n\nSo, did they solve the mystery? Well, no. In the end, researchers believe that the speed at which one part of a sentence is said, relative to the rest of the sentence, affects identification of words like \u201ca.\u201d[6] Listeners in experiments did not universally miss the \u201ca\u201d and certainly not to the extent it was apparently missed by listeners of Armstrong\u2019s statement on the moon and in recordings. Thus, \u201c[t]hese results demonstrate that substantial ambiguity exists in the original quote from Armstrong.\u201d[7] Truly groundbreaking.\n\nSo, why did NSF think this study deserved your tax dollars? Well, they might not have. As The Waste Report has noted in the past, once a grant goes out the door, there is no further accounting of where that money winds up and how much goes to a given project.\n\nIn this case, the intended purpose of these grants was to help improve and understand communications for persons with conditions that may affect speech, such as autism, stuttering, and Parkinson\u2019s disease[8] \u2013 not what Neil Armstrong said on the moon. The grant synopses makes no mention of Armstrong, nor does the paper assert that he suffered from a condition that would affect his speech.\n\nSounds like NSF funds might be getting lost in transmission\n\n###\n\n[1] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155975.PDF\n\n[2] University of Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan State, and George Mason University.\n\n[3] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155975.PDF\n\n[4] NSF award numbers: 0847653 and 1431063\n\n[5] NSF award numbers: 0847653\n\n[6] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155975.PDF\n\n[7] Ibid.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:04:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-us-senate-protect-terminal-patients-access-treatment/", "Dr. Rand Paul to US Senate: Protect Terminal Patients\u2019 Access to Treatment", "2016-09-27", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul called for the passage of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson\u2019s (R-WI) S. 2912, the Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act, to prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from interfering with \u201cRight to Try\u201d laws that 31 states have adopted. Right to Try allows patients suffering from a terminal illness to use treatments, under a doctor\u2019s supervision, that have not yet received the FDA\u2019s final approval.\n\n\u201cAs a physician, I believe that treatment is decided best between a doctor and a patient and not through a slow-moving bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., especially when every moment matters in facing a terminal illness,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cAs we work on streamlining the FDA\u2019s approval process, I urge my colleagues to pass Senator Johnson\u2019s common-sense bill that respects states\u2019 actions on expanding treatment access.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany of us have felt that sense of desperation \u2014 of urgency \u2014 when we learn that someone we love is fighting for their life,\u201d said Sen. Johnson. \u201cIn 2014, I met with a brave Wisconsin woman, Trickett Wendler, who was fighting ALS. Trickett passed away last year, but her spirit and her fight are among the reasons I am passionate about this issue \u2014 because I know that today, and every day, millions of Americans are fighting similar life-and-death battles to save themselves and their loved ones. For Trickett, and for countless others facing terminal illnesses, now is the time to give more patients a chance to save their lives \u2014 to give them hope. I\u2019m thankful to Senator Paul for his support and hope my colleagues in the Senate will join with their support for this important, bipartisan bill.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul cosponsored S. 2912 and spoke at a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing examining the legislation last Thursday. Senator Johnson serves as chairman of the committee.\n\nBelow, you can find video of Dr. Paul\u2019s remarks and background information on the bill.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH DR. PAUL AT THURSDAY\u2019S HSGAC HEARING\n\nBackground on S. 2912:\n\nNamed in honor of Trickett Wendler, who passed away in March 2015 after battling ALS;\n\nProvides a potential lifeline for terminally ill patients without undoing the FDA\u2019s approval process;\n\nRequires physician certification that other options are exhausted or not available, maintaining incentives for patients to seek out and join clinical trials;\n\nRequires products to have completed Phase 1 (safety) testing by the FDA;\n\nEnsures adverse outcomes are not used against a company\u2019s ongoing application for approval;\n\nPrevents additional liability for patients, doctors, and manufacturers.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-aloha-waste/", "Aloha to Waste", "2016-09-26", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s Report, Dr. Paul highlights nearly $10 million in taxpayer funds that the City of Honolulu wasted to beat a \u201ctimeliness\u201d deadline and stay eligible for more Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. After searching for a project, the City settled on a grant proposal to purchase the Hibiscus Hill Apartments property, which wasn\u2019t up for sale at the time and eventually cost taxpayers about $1.9 million above the appraised value.\n\nThe Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee has established an email address, Report_Waste@HAGAC.Senate.gov, where federal employees can report wasteful end-of-year spending. More information can be found HERE.\n\nYou can find \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nAccording to the Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City and County of Honolulu (City) wasted nearly $10 million of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money for no other reason than to just spend federal money fast\u2026 so they could remain eligible to receive more federal funds.[1]\n\nThe CDBG program is a grant for local governments to help develop affordable housing and economic opportunities primarily for low- and middle-income persons. While grant money can be rolled into the next fiscal year, local governments are not allowed to just sit on this money. By the end of a grant year, available funds cannot exceed 150% of the current year grant award \u2013 the timeliness test. If a community breaks this timeliness test two years in a row, they may lose CDBG funding for the next year.[2]\n\nAccording to the IG, Honolulu\u2019s bureaucratic structure led it to perennially fail the timeliness test every other year. However, in 2013, the City was in risk of breaching the two-year rule and possibly losing CDBG money \u2013 until it cooked up a plan to fast track some big spending.\n\nFirst, the City came up with an alternate process for approving CDBG projects, which, according to the IG, \u201chad few requirements and was subjective.\u201d[3] Then, the City put out a \u201cbrief\u201d request for proposals for an acquisition project: high cost in one transaction. They further required the project to move fast \u2013 fast enough to prevent the two-year rule from being violated. Ultimately, the City approved a proposal to purchase the Hibiscus Hill Apartments in Waipahu.[4]\n\nHibiscus Hill was not even up for sale, which of course put the owner in a \u201cname your price\u201d kind of situation. The property ended up selling for about 25% above the appraised value \u2013 meaning taxpayers overpaid by about $1.9 million.[5]\n\nWhy Hibiscus Hill? Good question. The original proposal stated that rent at Hibiscus Hill had increased 40% over the preceding 3 years, but that claim was not substantiated. However, the appraiser found rents at the apartment complex were at the lower end of the local rental market. Further, since the property acquisition, rents have increased, in some cases \u201csignificantly.\u201d[6] This led the IG to conclude, \u201cTherefore, the acquisition apparently did not serve a meaningful purpose and the City did not support that it was necessary.\u201d[7] True, unless the City\u2019s real purpose was just to spend money quickly to preserve their access to CDBG grant dollars.\n\nThe grant recipients\u2019 proposal included a promise to spend $1 million (of their money) renovating all 80 units in the complex. Yet, two years later, only eight units were renovated at a cost of just over $146k. Further, 50 units were to be deemed \u201caffordable,\u201d a promise which the City itself decided in 2015 was unmet.[8]\n\nNonetheless, Honolulu did not breach the timeliness test two years running and is still eligible to receive CDBG money\u2026\n\nAnd the taxpayer is only out $10 million.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-welcomes-kentucky-honor-flight-washington-dc/", "Dr. Rand Paul Welcomes Kentucky Honor Flight to Washington, DC", "2016-09-22", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul yesterday welcomed veterans from Kentucky traveling on their Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.\n\n\u201cOur nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who fought for our freedoms. I have always stood with Kentucky\u2019s veterans and will continue to fight for them in the U.S. Senate. It is a special experience to visit with them as they see their memorials on a day that honors their service and commitment,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nHonor Flight Bluegrass provided a free trip to our nation\u2019s capital for 64 Kentucky veterans, as well as veterans from Indiana and Tennessee. The veterans toured multiple memorials, including the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-us-senate-votes-blocking-saudi-arabia-arms-sale/", "US Senate Votes on Blocking Saudi Arabia Arms Sale", "2016-09-21", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 By invoking the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN), and Mike Lee (R-UT) forced a vote today in the U.S. Senate on blocking the $1.15 billion U.S. sale of 153 Abrams tanks and associated major defense articles to Saudi Arabia.\n\nTwenty-seven senators voted in support of halting the sale, while seventy-one senators voted to continue providing support to Saudi Arabia.\n\n\u201cToday, a growing coalition of legislators refused to sit idly by while the President inserts America into another war and an escalating arms race in an unstable region without congressional authorization or debate,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cAs violent jihadists attack the West, the Saudis continue to fund madrassas that preach hatred and violence against the West. The Founders did not entrust the power to initiate war to the legislature lightly. Today does not mark an end, but an important next step in reclaiming Congress\u2019 rightful constitutional role in foreign policy.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur resolution may not have passed today, but this debate was very important in and of itself. For the first time in recent history, the Senate debated whether continued, unquestioned arms sales to the Saudis serves America\u2019s national interest,\u201d said Sen. Murphy. \u201cWe knew going in that this would be an uphill climb, but we sent a clear message today that Saudi Arabia will take to heart if it values our partnership. And we raised awareness among our colleagues about a war inside Yemen that up until this week has been ignored by Congress. U.S. support for their wars cannot be unconditional, especially when civilians are being killed, and terrorist organizations are growing stronger. Congress is watching, and we will not sit on the sidelines.\u201d\n\n\u201cThousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in the U.S.-backed war in Yemen,\u201d said Sen. Franken. \u201cThis is a tragedy, and it\u2019s not one that we should continue to support. Our resolution would have stopped a $1.15 billion U.S. arms sale to the Saudis, and while it unfortunately was not passed, the very fact that we voted on it sends a strong message to Saudi Arabia: that the United States is not going to turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children.\u201d\n\n\u201cToday, the United States Senate squandered a rare and important opportunity to have a substantive and consequential debate about America\u2019s ongoing involvement in the Yemeni civil war,\u201d said Sen. Lee. This was more than just a missed opportunity \u2013 it was a gross dereliction of duty. Members of Congress in both chambers have a responsibility to the American people to carefully evaluate our interventions abroad, and to participate in the process of defining America\u2019s national interests and developing a foreign policy to pursue those interests. Senator Paul\u2019s resolution gave us a chance to do our jobs today, and unfortunately, we failed to rise to the occasion.\u201d\n\nClick HERE to read the joint resolution of disapproval in its entirety.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-va-medical-center-no-tv-you/", "VA Medical Center \u2013 No TV for You", "2016-09-20", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the latest edition of \u201cThe Waste Report,\u201d an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn September 2013, as part of a \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d spending rush, the Detroit VA Medical Center spent over $300,000 on televisions and accessories for upgrades to patient rooms. Three years later, the vast majority of the televisions, which turned out to be the wrong model, sit in storage with expired warranties, still waiting for the project to begin construction. Dr. Paul\u2019s Report reveals the full story.\n\nThe Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee has established an email address, Report_Waste@HAGAC.Senate.gov, where federal employees can report wasteful end-of-year spending. More information can be found HERE.\n\nYou can find \u201cThe Waste Report\u201d HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nWaste Report readers will remember an edition from earlier this year, \u201cVeterans Health Administration: It\u2019s Not About Logistics,\u201d where we reported on the VA leaving urology equipment unused for months. Because the equipment was leased, the VA made over $200k in payments for the equipment while it sat in storage. Unfortunately, it seems the VA has outdone that waste \u2013 this time spending over $300k on TVs that have been sitting in storage for nearly three years.[1]\n\nThe VA Inspector General reports that, in 2013, the Detroit VA Medical Center wanted to upgrade TVs in patient rooms. Probably not a bad idea and certainly a benefit to our veterans in a difficult time. Unfortunately, the project included upgrading the whole TV system, which required some amount of construction. Rather than waiting for construction to begin (or even be scheduled), the VA saw fit in September 2013 to purchase 300 TVs and accessories immediately at a cost of $311k.[2]\n\nSince the facility was not ready for the TVs, they went to storage,[3] where they have sat for nearly three years. The IG\u2019s report even states that \u201cas of June 21, 2016, the facility had not yet awarded the contract to begin construction.\u201d[4] So these TVs will continue to sit for some time. By the way, the warranties expired in January 2015.[5]\n\nWhat is worse, these dormant TVs are not even the right ones for the planned upgrade. According to the IG, the project plan calls for TVs that use an Ethernet feed, but the ones the VA purchased use an increasingly outdated coaxial feed. So the VA modified the project at an additional cost of $19k \u2013 to accommodate the TVs still in storage.[6]\n\nYou might ask, how did something like this happen? Well, the culprit seems to be the \u201cUse it or Lose it\u201d paradigm of government spending: spend money before it expires at the end of the fiscal year. Remember, the TVs were purchased in September 2013, just before the end of the federal government\u2019s fiscal year. As the IG reports, \u201cDespite not needing the TVs \u2026 the Chief of Volunteer and Community Relations reported the facility purchased them because they had funds available.\u201d[7]\n\n\u201cUse it or lose it\u201d is a big problem. Research indicates that \u201cspending in the last week of the year is 4.9 times higher than the rest-of-the-year weekly average,\u201d while \u201cquality scores for year-end projects are 2.2 to 5.6 times more likely to be below the central value [lower quality].\u201d[8] As in this case, you might end up buying TVs you do not need and which are the wrong model.\n\nChairman Paul and the FSO subcommittee have worked to bring the perils of \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d spending to public attention, both with a hearing on the subject last September and legislation (S.1378)[9] that incentivizes federal employees against end-of-year-spending binges while helping to reduce the deficit.\n\nThe IG\u2019s report put it best when it said the unneeded TV purchases \u201cprevented the use of about $292,500 that could have been better spent on other facility priorities.\u201d[10] Of course, the top priority of the VA should be veterans.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-warner-applaud-house-action-cost-cutters-legislation/", "Sens. Paul, Warner Applaud House Action on Cost-Cutters Legislation", "2016-09-15", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mark Warner (D-VA) applauded the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for passing U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann\u2019s (R-TN) H.R. 2532, the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act.\n\nThe legislation mirrors S. 1378, which Senators Paul and Warner introduced in May 2015 and passed the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a bipartisan vote of 12-5 in May 2016.\n\n\u201cI thank Rep. Fleischmann for his leadership in advancing this important legislation in the House, as well as the committee for moving it to the floor,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cToday\u2019s victory is especially timely, with the end of the government\u2019s fiscal year just around the corner. While \u2018use it or lose it\u2019 spenders have splurged with taxpayer funds to beat the clock in the past, the full House and Senate can now take a major step toward incentivizing saving and ending business as usual by passing this reform.\u201d\n\n\u201cCongress\u2019 appropriations process can sometimes nonsensically encourage federal agencies to spend down the money they have been allocated as the end of the fiscal year approaches, regardless of whether the spending is needed or even wise. We need to discourage this \u2018use it or lose it\u2019 mentality, and instead incentivize federal agencies to be better stewards of taxpayers\u2019 dollars by spending thoughtfully or returning unused funds to the Treasury at the end of the year,\u201d said Sen. Warner. \u201cI applaud the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for following its Senate counterpart to approve this money-saving legislation, and hope we can move soon to pass this commonsense approach to government efficiency and federal spending into law.\u201d\n\nFederal law allows an agency\u2019s Inspector General to pay bonuses up to $10,000 of savings realized when a federal employee identifies waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds. The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act would expand these categories to include surplus or unneeded funds. Additionally, S. 1378 would ensure that 90% of the savings be automatically directed towards deficit reduction.\n\nClick HERE to read the text of S. 1378.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-us-senate-passes-sen-rand-pauls-amendment-block-lake-cumberland-user-fees/", "U.S. Senate Passes Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Amendment to Block Lake Cumberland User Fees", "2016-09-15", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s amendment to S. 2848, the Water Resources Development Act, to protect Kentuckians that rely on Lake Cumberland as a water source from paying user fees passed the U.S. Senate. S. 2848 went on to pass by a vote of 95 to 3.\n\nFor two years after becoming law, Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from charging eleven cities and businesses a one-time user fee, as well as an annual operation and maintenance fee, to access the water in Lake Cumberland. Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a water reallocation study that would determine the fees.\n\n\u201cTaking action on behalf of Kentuckians is one of my most important responsibilities in the Senate, so I am pleased that these actions have yielded a positive result for Lake Cumberland\u2019s surrounding communities that would help protect families from paying higher water bills and prevent government from further hindering our employers\u2019 competitiveness,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cI know how important this issue is for the affected communities, so I will continue working in Congress and with local officials to shield them from these charges.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would like to thank Senator Paul and his staff for working with Somerset and our region to pass legislation addressing our concerns,\u201d said Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler.\n\nBackground information on the amendment is available below. Click HERE to read the text.\n\nAmendment No. 5068\n\nThis amendment blocks the Army Corps of Engineers from charging a fee for surplus water stored in Lake Cumberland. The Corps is in the process of studying Lake Cumberland/Wolf Creek Dam to determine how much cities and industries will have to begin paying the Corps for using water from Lake Cumberland and for operation and maintenance of the reservoir. Until now, these cities and industries have not had to pay any such user fee.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendment-block-user-fees-lake-cumberland-area/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendment to Block User Fees on Lake Cumberland Area", "2016-09-12", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act (S. 2848) on behalf of Kentuckians that rely on Lake Cumberland as a water source. Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from charging eleven cities and businesses a one-time user fee, as well as annual operation and maintenance fees, to access the water in Lake Cumberland after it completes a water reallocation study.\n\n\u201cAfter hearing about the water fee issue facing Lake Cumberland\u2019s surrounding counties, I reached out to local officials in those communities and promised to work with them to find a solution to this problem,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cMy amendment would ensure that Lake Cumberland\u2019s surrounding communities and businesses would not be overwhelmed with substantial fees from the Army Corps of Engineers. I am hopeful this amendment will pass to help prevent the federal government from placing additional financial burdens on hardworking Kentuckians in this uncertain economic climate.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from charging the one-time fee and annual fee for ten years after the amendment becomes law.\n\nLegislation to block the reallocation study for one year passed the U.S. House of Representatives\u2019 Appropriations Committee in April but has not yet been approved by the entire House.\n\nBackground information on the amendment is available below. Click HERE to read the text.\n\nAmendment No. 5025\n\nThis amendment blocks the Army Corps of Engineers from charging a fee for water storage in, water supply from, or operation and maintenance costs for Wolf Creek Dam in Lake Cumberland. The Corps is in the process of studying Lake Cumberland/Wolf Creek Dam to determine how much cities and industries will have to begin paying the Corps for using water from and for operation and maintenance of the dam in Lake Cumberland, an intrastate Corps-controlled reservoir. Until now, these cities and industries have not had to pay any such user fee.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-paul-invites-federal-employees-report-use-it-or-lose-it-waste/", "Dr. Paul Invites Federal Employees to Report \u201cUse It or Lose It\u201d Waste", "2016-09-09", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) invited federal employees to contact his Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee if they see \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d spending sprees as the federal government concludes its fiscal year that cause waste, mismanagement, or other abuses of taxpayer funds. \u201cUse it or lose it\u201d spending has become notorious and widespread as agencies use up their existing budget authority to try to justify higher funding levels. The fiscal year ends September 30.\n\nA study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that as the fiscal year expires, money even shifts time zones to gain extra hours for last-minute spending.[1]\n\n\u201cIn a time of ever-expanding government, \u2018use it or lose it\u2019 waste provides us with some of the most outrageous examples of how out of control spending has become,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cHearing from those witnessing this abuse of taxpayer funds firsthand will help us more specifically target the problem and generate pressure to reform the budget process.\u201d\n\nCurrent law allows an agency\u2019s Inspector General to pay bonuses up to $10,000 of savings realized when a federal employee identifies waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds. Dr. Paul is working to expand these categories to cover unneeded or surplus funds through his Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, S. 1378, which passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs by a bipartisan vote of 12-5 in May.\n\nFederal employees can contact Dr. Paul\u2019s Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee at Report_Waste@HSGAC.Senate.Gov. All emails will be considered confidential, and employees can remain anonymous.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-murphy-franken-and-lee-introduce-joint-resolution-block-military-equipment-sale-saudi/", "Sens. Paul, Murphy, Franken, and Lee Introduce Joint Resolution to Block Military Equipment Sale to Saudi Arabia", "2016-09-08", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN), and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a joint resolution of disapproval to block the U.S. sale of Abrams tanks and associated major defense articles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon announced the proposed sale, totaling $1.15 billion, in August.\n\n\u201cSelling $1.15 billion in tanks, guns, ammunition, and more to a country with a poor human rights record embroiled in a bitter war is a recipe for disaster and an escalation of an ongoing arms race in the region,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cSaudi Arabia is an important partner, but their war in Yemen, funded by the U.S., has become a disaster that is making our country less safe every day,\u201d said Sen. Murphy. \u201cThousands of civilians are being killed, and terrorist groups inside the country, like al Qaeda and ISIS, are getting stronger. Until the Saudis conduct changes, the U.S. should put a pause on further arms sales.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Obama Administration has recently offered over a billion dollars in weaponry to Saudi Arabia, and I think it\u2019s in America\u2019s best interest to call a timeout on this sale,\u201d said Sen. Franken. \u201cIn Yemen, a Saudi coalition of fighters is unjustly killing civilians while at the same time not doing enough to address terrorism. This is dangerous for the Middle East, for our other allies, and for our nation, which is why I\u2019m helping to introduce this bipartisan resolution.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnbeknownst to many Americans, their military has been engaged in the civil war in Yemen throughout this year with very little oversight or authorization from their representatives in Congress,\u201d said Sen. Lee. \u201cI am cosponsoring this resolution because I believe it is our responsibility as stewards of our constituents\u2019 interests to have a public discussion and debate on the merits \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 of our involvement in this conflict and the broader Middle East. This presents Congress with an opportunity to prove we can do our jobs in a bipartisan manner and put the safety and security of the American people first. It will also allow us to work with the Saudis to recalibrate our alliance towards more productive and enduring achievements.\u201d\n\nIn addition to today\u2019s Senate action, 64 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter to President Obama in August urging him to delay the sale.\n\nThe Arms Export Control Act of 1976 provides the special procedures whereby a Senator can force a vote on an arms sale by the President. Today\u2019s introduction of the joint resolution of disapproval allows Senators Paul, Murphy, Franken, and Lee, along with other members of Congress, to force a vote on blocking the Saudi arms sale.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:01:54Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-small-business-administrations-disastrous-loans/", "Small Business Administration\u2019s Disastrous Loans", "2016-08-30", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThis week\u2019s Report resembles one you could have seen during the 2007 mortgage crisis, as Dr. Paul highlights millions in lost taxpayer funds in the Small Business Administration\u2019s (SBA) disaster assistance loan program. According to the SBA\u2019s own Inspector General, SBA provided loans to applicants lacking satisfactory credit, or, in some cases, even a proven ability to repay the money. Often, workers ignored SBA\u2019s own guidelines, or exploited loopholes, to issue these loans.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nSubprime, liar loans, no-doc, income unverified\u2026 these sound like terms used to describe the 2007 mortgage crisis. Unfortunately, they can also be used to describe the Small Business Administration\u2019s disaster assistance loans following Hurricane Sandy, which resulted in as much as $4.3 million of lost taxpayer money.[1] In most instances, these loans were made either because SBA guidelines were ignored, or loopholes were exploited.[2]\n\nPart of federal disaster relief includes the availability of low-interest loans to persons in the affected area via the Small Business Administration (SBA), even though these loans are not necessarily for business purposes.[3] According to the SBA\u2019s Inspector General, approximately 500 of SBA\u2019s Sandy loans went into default within 18 months of issuance, though even that number is misleading, as two thirds of these loan recipients made fewer than three payments, and more than half of those made no payment at all.[4]\n\nWhile these defaults represent just 2.6 percent of all SBA Sandy loans, they tell a troubling story of lax lending practices eerily similar to the 2007 subprime crisis, where persons that never should have gotten loans did. However, unlike with private lenders, in this case loans were made using taxpayer dollars.\n\nThe IG estimates that loan approvals totaled nearly $3 million for persons with unsatisfactory credit.[5] Like all lenders, SBA has a minimum creditworthiness standard for a loan approval. However, loans can be approved if a borrower can explain minor or isolated credit blemishes,[6] a loophole you could drive a Mack truck through.\n\nIn one instance, SBA approved an over $200k loan, despite the borrower having multiple past-due and charge-off accounts. The explanation that satisfied SBA? The borrower was unaware of one, yes one, of their many delinquent debts. After receiving an initial $14k disbursement, the borrower failed to make even their first payment, and, thankfully, the remainder of the loan was canceled.[7]\n\nMore troubling, the IG estimates that $1.46 million in loans went to persons who could not demonstrate an ability to repay.[8] Sound familiar? One borrower never made a payment on their $12k loan. This is probably because, when taking into account their existing obligations, \u201cthe borrower\u2019s cash available [to pay the loan] was negative.\u201d[9] Another borrower claimed nearly 30 percent of their income came from rental properties they could not document and did not report on their tax returns. In other words, they either were dodging taxes or lying to SBA. Nonetheless, they received more than $8k on a loan they defaulted on after only four payments.[10]\n\nIn another case, one loan was approved for a person who was not a U.S. citizen, which is permissible for some legal residents who provide additional documentation demonstrating their eligibility. Unfortunately, in this case, such documentation was not obtained or even requested, and the borrower defaulted.[11]\n\nOf course, disaster lending might call for some more flexibility than traditional loan making, but such flexibility must be limited, standards (even looser ones) need to be adhered to, and taxpayers\u2019 interests cannot be ignored.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:00:38Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-official-waste/", "Official Waste", "2016-08-23", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn this special, two-page edition, Dr. Paul examines federal employees doing union work on taxpayers\u2019 dime, costing Americans hundreds of millions of dollars when member dues should be more than enough to cover representation costs. Many of these employees receive full salary and benefits despite not performing a government function. Though some argue such work is for the \u201cpublic good,\u201d often the final result runs contrary to taxpayers\u2019 best interests and further enlarges an already bloated government.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nAre you a federal employee and in a union? Well, if you answered \u201cNO,\u201d you might be surprised to find out you are paying for union representation for federal employees.\n\nAccording to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), \u201cOfficial time, broadly defined, is paid time off from assigned Government duties to represent a union or its bargaining unit employees.\u201d[1] That is right. Federal employees get paid by the taxpayers to do union work, and, according to OPM, Official Time (OT) cost taxpayers $157.2 million in salary and 3.4 million hours not performing governmental duties in 2012.[2]\n\nHowever, a 2014 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) questioned OPM\u2019s methodology in calculating OT costs. GAO indicated that, based on a sample of 10 agencies, OPM had under calculated the cost by 9 percent on average,[3] which, if true across the board, would put the total figure closer to $171.3 million. Even worse, the GAO stated, \u201cOPM said reporting on official time is not a priority at this time\u2026\u201d[4] Maybe that\u2019s why OPM\u2019s FY 2012 report on OT is the most recent available.\n\nGAO\u2019s 2014 report notes that 386 employees were on OT full-time (2/3rds were attached to the VA).[5] Americans for Limited Government used FOIA requests to estimate that number at 490 employees this year.[6] In other words, these are federal employees that perform no government function yet receive full compensation, including federal benefits like health care and retirement.\n\n\u201cTime off,\u201d as OPM says, implies time away. Maybe they\u2019re down at the union hall, using union equipment? Nope. Union contracts (negotiated by taxpayer-funded union reps) often include non-payroll OT expenses such as travel, office space, equipment, etc. Most agencies and OPM do not generally report these costs. The Social Security Administration (SSA), however, does. In FY 2013, non-salary OT cost taxpayers an additional $1.8 million at SSA.[7] That is just one agency.\n\nHow did this all come to be? Well, OPM reports that \u201cvoluntary membership in Federal sector unions results in considerable reliance by unions on the volunteer work of bargaining unit employees, rather than paid union business agents\u2026\u201d[8] Of course, that is not quite true. These are paid union agents (almost 500 work full-time for the union), only they are paid by the taxpayers they are negotiating against rather than with the dues from the members they are representing.\n\nWhy are taxpayers paying union reps when union members pay dues?\n\nDoes this voluntary membership system really leave federal employee unions (FEUs) unable to collect enough dues to, you know, represent their members? Well, the FSO subcommittee dug into Department of Labor financial filings of the four largest FEUs, representing about 88 percent of all federal unionized workers. We found that, for just FY 2015, they collectively reported $205 million in receipts for their headquarters operations and over $100 million for the locals. They also reported $117.8 million in net assets.[9] In all, dues should be more than enough to fund union representatives.\n\nWith dues money not going to negotiating contracts and addressing grievances, FEUs can put it to work against the taxpayer. In one example, FEUs are currently advocating for a 5.3 percent pay increase for federal employees instead of the 1.6 percent increase President Obama has proposed.[10] Keep in mind that, over the last 12 months, inflation has been just 1 percent,[11] and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found in 2012 that federal employees made on average 2 percent in wages and 48 percent in benefits more than their private sector counterparts.[12] By the way, this pay increase would be in addition to the automatic pay hikes, known as \u201cstep increases,\u201d that federal employees also receive.\n\nThat example is pretty direct. FEUs, however, are generally less direct, arguing their main focus is the overall public good. As Milton Freidman famously summarized Adam Smith, it is much easier to get a special advantage by framing it as a public good (even when it is not) than to simply ask for special treatment.[13]\n\nTake, for example, the bipartisan effort to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after the recent waiting list scandal, where veterans actually died. The FEU representing VA employees is opposing such reforms, but not because they may adversely affect union members. Instead, the president of the union argued in an op-ed that the VA is working well, and that it would actually hurt veterans to seek reform because of \u201cminor\u201d problems.[14] Minor? PEOPLE DIED. Of course, the op-ed made mention of the VA being understaffed, but it somehow omitted the $31 million and 1.07 million hours the VA spends on OT.[15]\n\nIn another example, the FEU representing SSA employees lambasted the House Appropriations Committee for holding operation spending constant.[16][17] In Washington logic, no increase is actually a cut. This FEU warns that this policy will cause almost two lost weeks of work, which will adversely affect benefits (even though the legislation had nothing to do with benefits).[18] But it forgot to acknowledge the $7 million and almost 250,000 hours of OT done on its behalf at SSA. That comes out to about two workweeks for over 3,050 employees.\n\nCorporate Welfare: Now for Fed. Employee Unions, Too!!!\n\n###\n\n[1] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/labor-management-relations/reports-on-official-time/#url=Overview\n\n[2] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/labor-management-relations/reports/labor-management-relations-in-the-executive-branch-2014.pdf\n\n[3] http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/666619.pdf\n\n[4] Ibid\n\n[5] Ibid\n\n[6] https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ALGF-Full-Time-Official-Time-Report_Final_Binder_06.28.16.pdf\n\n[7] http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/666619.pdf\n\n[8] https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/labor-management-relations/reports/labor-management-relations-in-the-executive-branch-2014.pdf\n\n[9] FSO Calculation using DOL data\n\n[10] http://www.nffe.org/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/109026 & https://www.nteu.org/media-center/heritage-report\n\n[11] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm\n\n[12] http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/01-30-FedPay.pdf\n\n[14] http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/279529-no-the-va-is-not-broken\n\n[15] http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/666619.pdf\n\n[16] https://www.afge.org/article/social-security-is-under-siege-and-no-one-is-talking-about-it/\n\n[17] According to the House Appropriations Committee, relative to FY 2016, spending was reduced due to a one-year building renovation.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:00:38Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-weight-waste/", "The Weight of Waste", "2016-08-16", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s report, Dr. Paul takes a look at taxpayers funding a documentary on the International Prototype Kilogram. This $500,000 grant opportunity from the Department of Commerce will focus on efforts to replace \u201cBig K\u201d with a natural constant.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nYou may recall a Waste Report from last year called \u201cMeasuring Waste\u201d, highlighting a $188,000 NSF grant to produce a book on the history of measurement and finally answering the age-old question of why Americans do not like the metric system.\n\nIf you have not made the trip to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy, do not worry. Netflix will soon be able to satisfy your metric system cravings, thanks to the Department of Commerce spending $500,000 to make a documentary on the Kilogram.[1] This is not just any kilogram, but THE granddaddy of all kilos: Big K, the International Prototype Kilogram.\n\nYou know, Big K, the metal cylinder stored in a vault in Paris that serves as \u201cthe standard for measuring mass in almost every country on Earth.\u201d[2] That is right!! Taxpayers are funding a movie about a metal cylinder. Well, sort of. The movie is actually about the quest to replace Big K with a natural constant.\n\nWhat is a natural constant? Well, take a meter, for example, which used to be defined by the distance between two marks on an iron bar kept with Big K in Paris. In 1984, a meter was redefined \u201cas the distance light travels, in a vacuum,\u201d in 1/299,792,458 of a second, a natural constant.[3] Certainly, Waste Report readers remember when that change happened, right?\n\nTurns out Big K is the last standard of measurement in the vault. Cracking the nut of how to redefine mass by a standard constant has proven challenging for the international community of measurement scientists, which is why the movie will be titled The Last Artifact. However, after decades of research and debate, it appears an international committee will likely reveal a measure of mass based on something called the \u201cwatt balance\u201d in late 2018.[4]\n\nIf this Waste Report seems to be getting heavy (pun intended), not to worry. We are sure replacing Big K is of great value to science, but is a documentary about it of great value to taxpayers? Probably not. According to the grant opportunity, \u201cThe overriding objective of the documentary is to convey the subject in a compelling and original way to an audience of science-interested viewers.\u201d[5]\n\nBut if viewers interested in this kind of science are a broad audience, ticket sales or sponsors should cover the cost of production, making government aid unneeded. If they are a narrow market, then 69 average Americans worked all year to pay for a film about a metal cylinder that only a few people will even care to watch.\n\nHow about a Government Waste Documentary?\n\n###\n\n[2] Ibid", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:00:38Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-trapped-waste/", "Trapped by Waste", "2016-08-08", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s report, Dr. Paul turns the spotlight on nearly $600,000 of taxpayer money going to offset some of the Wolf Trap Foundation\u2019s operation and production costs. While Wolf Trap is supposed to be structured to protect taxpayers, the funds are flowing from an earmark many members of Congress may not realize exists \u2013 an earmark even the National Park Service has tried to eliminate.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nOutside the DC area, few people have probably even heard of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, let alone taken in a concert there. However, for those inside the Beltway (metaphorically speaking[1]), Wolf Trap is a well-known venue for a variety of summer concerts. Unfortunately, whether you have heard of it or not, Wolf Trap is trapping nearly $600,000 of taxpayer money for wasteful, DC-insider hypocrisy.\n\nOn its surface, Wolf Trap is structured to protect taxpayers. As a kind of public-private partnership, the National Park Service maintains the park (which includes hiking trails and the like), while the non-profit Wolf Trap Foundation is \u201cresponsible for artistic programming, public relations, marketing, box office functions, and providing stagehands and certain other employees who are directly related to the presentation of performing arts.\u201d[2]\n\nIt seems like a reasonable and clear division between the national park and its use as a venue for stage entertainment. However, the line seems to have recently been blurred, as the Park Service is handing over $594,000 to the Foundation to offset some of the cost of operations and production.[3]\n\nDo not blame the Park Service! Their hands are tied. This money comes from a $2.2 million earmark for the National Capital Area Performing Arts program, which funds (or subsidizes) a variety of concerts and entertainment around Washington. In fact, the National Park Service has unsuccessfully asked Congress to eliminate this earmark.[4] While Congress ignored those requests, many members may have just not known the earmark was there. You see, the earmark is not in the nearly 900-page text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2029) or the more than 200 pages of committee reports accompanying the bill. The earmark is on page 16 of the 109-page explanatory statement for division G of the Appropriations Act. Vague and hard to find \u2013 almost the definition of \u201csnuck in.\u201d\n\nIn the case of Wolf Trap, it even gets worse. The purpose of the funds is to \u201cpay a portion of the costs of the union stagehands that work backstage\u2026.\u201d[5] So, DC\u2019s most-connected people, many of whom are strong union supporters, are using taxpayer money to alleviate themselves and fellow Washingtonians of paying union prices.\n\nThe FSO subcommittee calculates that if concertgoers had to pay the full cost of Wolf Trap concerts with unionized stage hands, ticket prices would increase by only about 4 percent.[6] That comes out to roughly $5 a ticket for the most expensive seats.[7] But even if the increase were 40 percent or 400 percent, that cost should be paid by the patron who chooses to take in a show, not the taxpayer who has no choice whatsoever.\n\nIn case you are wondering, about 84 average Americans a year have to turn over their hard-earned money in taxes so Washingtonians can save $5 on concert tickets. By the way, Fairfax County, VA, where Wolf Trap is located, is the second wealthiest county in America, with a median income over $110,000. Bordering Fairfax are the #1 (Loudoun \u2013 $117k), #6 (Arlington \u2013 $101k), and #8 (Montgomery, MD \u2013 $97k) wealthiest counties in America.[8]\n\n###\n\n[1] Wolf Trap is actually a few miles outside the Beltway off the Dulles Toll Rd.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:00:38Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-serving-waste-side-poor-planning/", "Serving Up Waste, With a Side of Poor Planning", "2016-08-01", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s report, Dr. Paul highlights $6 million in taxpayer funds used to renovate Fort Belvoir\u2019s \u201cEagle\u2019s Nest\u201d Dining Facility. The project was completed in November 2015, only for the facility to be permanently closed by July 1, 2016. In addition to facing stiff competition from other local dining choices, it became clear during the renovation that the Army would likely close the Eagle\u2019s Nest.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nLast November, Fort Belvoir\u2019s \u201cEagle\u2019s Nest\u201d Dining Facility completed a $6 million renovation, and last month (less than a year later), the facility closed its doors permanently.[1]\n\nAccording to the base newspaper, Belvoir Eagle, the project \u201cincluded installing new flooring; ceilings; lights; bathrooms and serving lines; and replacing all of the furniture,\u201d with a representative of the facility even quoted as saying, \u201c[w]e really are a premier dining facility, now.\u201d[2] Seven months later, Fort Belvoir\u2019s website read, \u201c[e]ffective July 1, 2016 the Fort Belvoir Dining Facility will be officially, permanently closed.\u201d[3]\n\nThe shocking part is not that the Army is closing the facility after the renovation, but that the renovation was done in the first place. According to the Army, the facility only had less than a 5 percent utilization rate.[4] Of course, Fort Belvoir is just south of Alexandria, VA, next to George Washington\u2019s home at Mt. Vernon. With Starbucks, Subway, and Burger King on base, and numerous restaurants and grocery stores just a short drive in either direction on Route 1 (which bisects the base), it is not surprising that even a remodeled base dining facility would have trouble competing.\n\nTo understand why the Eagle\u2019s Nest renovation was such a boondoggle, you first need to understand how the Army feeds personnel on the home front. In addition to their regular pay, military personnel receive one of two types of food assistance: Subsistence-In-Kind (SIK), where a solder walks into an Army cafeteria and receives a meal, and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), a tax-free, additional benefit added to a soldier\u2019s pay for them to purchase food wherever they see fit.\n\nBase dining facilities\u2019 (like the Eagle\u2019s Nest) primary purpose is to serve personnel on SIK plans, although they do take cash customers at reduced rates. But with more and more private food options on base, or in local communities, fewer personnel are taking SIK plans. This is why, last August, the Army decided to explore closing mess halls operating at less than 65 percent of capacity based on SIK users. [5]\n\nThis meant certain closure at Fort Belvoir, where not one person is on the SIK plan.[6] That\u2019s $6 million of taxpayer money down the garbage disposal. Imagine the cost if the second phase, a kitchen remodel, had taken place!\n\nToday\u2019s Menu: Waste with a side of poor planning\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T21:00:38Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-panning-waste/", "Panning In On Waste", "2016-07-25", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s report, Dr. Paul uncovers the Department of State offering a grant of $60,000 in taxpayer funds to train television camera operators for Estonia\u2019s ETV+ channel. Since ETV+ is Estonian Public Broadcasting\u2019s third television channel, the American people would be right to ask how all the existing television camera expertise disappeared \u2013 and why they have to pay to replace it.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nFrom slowly panning in when things get serious, to the fast-paced pursuit of a running back breaking away, television cameras and their operators play an integral and often unsung role in our TV viewing experience. But operating a TV camera is not easy; it is a technical job that requires advanced training. Thanks to the U.S. Department of State (State), you are paying for some of that special training\u2026 in Estonia.\n\nState is currently advertising a $60,000 grant opportunity to train camera operators for ETV+, Estonian Public Broadcasting\u2019s (ERR) Russian-speaking channel. Interested parties are invited to submit proposals, which should include sending an American team of trainers, including a Russian-English translator, to Estonia to conduct training there. Separately, in July or August, \u201cwhen [the] ETV+ production team is on leave,\u201d the grant recipient is expected to bring five camera operators to the U.S. for a 10-day training session in a \u201clearning-studio.\u201d[1]\n\nSince it is a public broadcasting channel, ETV+ is primarily funded through Estonia\u2019s Ministry of Culture, receiving about \u20ac1.8 million in startup cash last year[2] and having a \u20ac2.53 million budget for 2015 \u2013 in which it planned to air just two hours of original programming daily.[3] ETV+, by the way, is ERR\u2019s third TV channel, so one might expect the technical expertise for camera operation to already exist within the ERR family.[4]\n\nWe also should note that since we first discovered this grant opportunity, the original posting has been taken down and replaced with a new posting under a similar, but different, grant opportunity number. The only other change was to take out reference specifically to ETV+. Perhaps someone realized an observer (such as the FSO Subcommittee) might start looking into ETV+ and asking why the U.S. taxpayers are funding this?\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-census-finalize-correct-counting-kentucky-military/", "Sen. Rand Paul to Census: Finalize Correct Counting for Kentucky Military", "2016-07-21", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul has urged the U.S. Census Bureau to finalize a proposed rule change for the 2020 census that would count all deployed service members at the base or port in which they resided prior to deployment instead of by their home of record, an address they gave when they enlisted. The Bureau\u2019s previous method resulted in 2010 census data that improperly represented areas including Fort Campbell, Kentucky.\n\n\u201cAs a result of using inaccurate and missing records for the tabulation of deployed service members, the surrounding military communities, which support the families of those service members, were calculated to have a lower population than what should be attributed to the community,\u201d Dr. Paul wrote in a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson.\n\n\u201cBy counting deployed service members according to where they actually live, the Bureau will receive more accurate reports of population and ensure communities have the needed resources to support these soldiers and their families,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nSince hearing from his constituents about the inaccurate reporting, Dr. Paul has led the effort to enact change, including contacting the Bureau directly and introducing legislation, the \u201cService Members and Communities Count Act,\u201d in multiple sessions of Congress to ensure all deployed service members are correctly reported.\n\nThe Census Bureau is taking comments on the proposed change through August 1. Dr. Paul encourages the public to submit their comments in support of the revised counting method HERE.\n\nYou can find the full text of the letter HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nDear Director Thompson:\n\nI write in regards to the Census Bureau\u2019s Proposed Criteria and Request for Comment on the 2020 Decennial Census Residence Rule and Residence Situations (Docket No: 160526465-6465-01) published in the Federal Register on June 30, 2016, to propose certain changes to the residence criteria used to determine where people are counted during each decennial census. I would like to offer support for the proposed changes specifically Rule 13(f) regarding the counting of deployed service members \u201cat the U.S. residence where they live and sleep most of the time.\u201d This change will insure that my constituents are accurately represented in the upcoming 2020 Census.\n\nThe results of the 2010 Census displayed an anomaly that misrepresented the counting of deployed service members for overseas contingency operations. These service members, despite not having a change in their permanent duty station, and who return to their duty station upon completion of their deployment, were counted in accordance with Rule 9(f) of the 2010 Census Residence Rule and Residence Situations:\n\n(f) U.S. military personnel living on or off a military installation outside of the U.S. including dependents living with them \u2013 Count as part of the U.S. overseas population. They should not be included on any U.S. census questionnaire\n\nThe Census Bureau attributes U.S. overseas population to the state on an individual\u2019s home-of-record. This practice may work well for members of the Department of State or other government agencies operating outside of the United States, but the Department of Defense fails to properly, and accurately, maintain their records. According to the \u201c2010 Census Federally Affiliated Overseas Count Operation Assessment Report,\u201d dated March 19, 2012, \u201conly 59 percent of the 2010 Department of Defense Records contained a home of record.\u201d\n\nAs a result of using inaccurate and missing records for the tabulation of deployed service members, the surrounding military communities, which support the families of those service members, were calculated to have a lower population than what should be attributed to the community.\n\nMy constituents residing in the region around Fort Campbell, Kentucky, experienced this first-hand following the 2010 census. Despite record home sales, increased public school enrollment, and other economic indicators supporting population growth, the calculated population remained relatively unchanged from the 2000 Census. The only explanation for the discrepancy is the deployment of service members from Fort Campbell to Afghanistan.\n\nStarting in late 2009 and continuing through 2010, members of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Brigade Combat teams of the 101st, the 101st Sustainment Brigade, the 159th and 101st Combat Aviation brigades were all deployed to sustain the military \u201csurge\u201d in Afghanistan. It is estimated that at least 10,000 service members were deployed at the collection time of the 2010 Census. Those service members then returned to Fort Campbell at the end of their deployment.\n\nI request that the Census Bureau maintain and implement the proposed changes to the \u201c2020 Residence Rule and Residence Situations\u201d as drafted. This will create one consistent and logical method for counting deployed service members. By counting deployed service members according to where they actually live, the Bureau will receive more accurate reports of population and ensure communities have the needed resources to support these soldiers and their families.\n\nThank you for your time and thoughtful consideration of these proposed changes.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-fox-isolated-island-and-waste/", "A Fox, An Isolated Island, and Waste", "2016-07-18", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn today\u2019s report, Dr. Paul shines a light on the Department of Defense offering a grant opportunity of nearly $100,000 to monitor the health of the Arctic Fox population on the island of Shemya. The fox is not native to the island, not endangered, and not proven to be successful at achieving the grant\u2019s stated rationale of preventing aircraft-bird collisions. In fact, the Air Force considers foxes themselves to be hazards.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nNear the tail end of the Aleutian Islands (farther west than Hawaii), sits Shemya, a two-by-four-mile island that is home to Eareckson Air Station (EAS) and nearly $100,000 of government waste.\n\nThe Department of Defense (DOD) recently published a $99,000 grant opportunity to monitor the population of the Arctic Fox on Shemya.[1] The stated rationale for this project is that the foxes appear to be in declining health, and their presence is perceived to reduce the Bird/Aircraft Strike Hazard. It all seems reasonable until you look a little deeper.\n\nJust 200 miles from Russia in the middle of the North Pacific, EAS was an important air strip during WWII and the Cold War, housing both bomber and fighter groups. However, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, that utility diminished quickly, and EAS was basically closed in 1995. Today, the once-vibrant airfield handles about three flights a week.[2]\n\nWhile avoiding aircraft-bird collisions is certainly an important and worthwhile goal, the use of the Arctic Fox in this endeavor is not proven to be successful. You see, though the fox will hunt sea birds, it much prefers small animals such as rodents, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In addition, according to the Air Force\u2019s own Bird/Wildlife Strike Hazard (BASH) Management Techniques, foxes also present a hazard, and it recommends using \u201cpyrotechnics to frighten these species\u201d or occasionally shooting them to keep them away from airfields.[3]\n\nBut maybe there is a reason to spend almost $100k to save the Arctic Fox! Perhaps the fox is endangered? Nope. According to the WWF, there are several hundred thousand Arctic Foxes in the world, earning them the status of \u201cLeast Concern.\u201d Interestingly enough, the foxes are not even native to the island, having been introduced decades before the Air Force arrived. In fact, generally the fox \u201clives inland, away from the coasts.\u201d[4] Getting inland is hard to do on an island where you are never more than a mile from the water.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-statement-disclosure-secured-911-families/", "Sen. Rand Paul Statement on Disclosure Secured for 9/11 Families", "2016-07-15", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul issued the following statement today in response to the declassification and release of the redacted 28 pages from the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001.\n\n\u201cOver a year ago, I and a bipartisan group of my colleagues stood with family members of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to demand President Obama release the redacted 28 pages from the 9/11 Congressional Joint Inquiry. For nearly 14 years, these families have endured one roadblock after another to obtain these details, and I am pleased the administration finally responded to their concerns and honored previous promises,\u201d said Senator Paul. \u201cToday\u2019s disclosure is both momentous and long overdue.\u201d\n\nOn June 1, 2015, as part of his efforts to obtain the documents\u2019 release, Senator Rand Paul introduced S. 1471, the Transparency for the Families of 9/11 Victims and Survivors Act, to require President Obama to declassify the redacted 28 pages and make them available to the public.\n\nClick HERE to read the newly released documents.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senator-paul-secures-expansion-access-opioid-addiction-treatment/", "Senator Paul Secures Expansion of Access to Opioid-Addiction Treatment", "2016-07-13", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul praised Senate passage today of the conference report on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), legislation that includes several provisions Dr. Paul has championed to expand access to treatment for those battling opioid addiction. The Senate approved CARA by a vote of 92-2, after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 407-5 to pass the legislation on Friday.\n\n\u201cIn a time of deep partisan division, I applaud the U.S. Senate for coming together to do the right thing by ensuring Kentucky families and other Americans devastated by opioid addiction receive the treatment they need to heal,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cAs the lead Republican sponsor of the TREAT Act, I have worked with Senator Markey and a bipartisan coalition to speak up for those denied help by arbitrary federal interference. Today\u2019s victory is an encouraging sign of what we can accomplish when we decide to get Washington out of the American people\u2019s way. I urge the President to quickly sign the bill into law.\u201d\n\nToday\u2019s passage marks the second major step in a week toward unshackling doctors to help more patients break free of their opioid addiction. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would extend the cap on the number of patients to whom a doctor can prescribe buprenorphine, a key component in Suboxone, from the current 100-patient barrier to 275 patients. Dr. Paul had earlier joined a bipartisan group of senators in asking HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell to raise the cap to the 500-patient level contained in the TREAT Act after learning HHS was planning to extend the cap to only 200 patients.\n\nNow, the CARA conference report would further implement the principles contained in TREAT by expanding the number of providers who can administer treatment, allowing HHS Secretary Burwell to authorize in-office treatment that excludes patients from the cap, and giving states greater flexibility in adjusting their own patient caps.\n\nBelow is a summary of TREAT Act provisions included in the CARA conference report:\n\no Allows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe buprenorphine to treat patients with opioid addiction for the first time, through 2021, following completion of addiction-treatment education.\n\no Seeks to provide patients with the opportunity to access the full range of available treatment options for their addiction treatment by ensuring providers are educated in addiction medicine and have the capacity to provide, either directly or by referral, all drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of opioid use disorder and any necessary counseling or ancillary services.\n\no Allows the Secretary to exclude patients from the cap if they are given long-acting versions of buprenorphine that are administered in a physician\u2019s office and not distributed to the patient for at-home use, therefore putting them at a low risk for diversion.\n\no Grants states the flexibility to adjust their total cap numbers within the parameters set in federal law.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-urges-senate-expand-access-opioid-addiction-treatment/", "Dr. Rand Paul Urges Senate to Expand Access to Opioid-Addiction Treatment", "2016-07-12", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul called on the U.S. Senate to help more Kentuckians and other Americans struggling with opioid addiction find healing by passing the conference report on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved CARA by a wide bipartisan majority of 407-5, with the legislation containing several proposals that Dr. Paul has long been fighting for as lead Republican sponsor of the TREAT Act.\n\n\u201cCounterproductive rules decreed by Washington, D.C. prevent far too many of those battling opioid addiction from obtaining proper treatment,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cKentuckians have been especially hit hard by this epidemic, and I\u2019m pleased to see Congress finally take many of the common-sense steps Senator Markey and I have been advocating for through the TREAT Act to provide help to those fighting for their lives. I urge the Senate to follow the House\u2019s lead by passing CARA right away.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank Senator Paul for his partnership in this effort,\u201d said Senator Markey, \u201cand I thank Senators Murray and Alexander, and Reps. Pallone and Upton who helped to get these provisions included in the final legislation. I will continue to work to pass legislation that would make nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other trained medical professionals a permanent part of the opioid treatment workforce.\u201d\n\nLast week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would extend the cap on the number of patients to whom a doctor can prescribe buprenorphine, a key component in Suboxone, from the current 100-patient barrier to 275 patients. Dr. Paul had earlier joined a bipartisan group of senators in asking HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell to raise the cap to the 500-patient level contained in the TREAT Act after learning HHS was planning to extend the cap to only 200 patients.\n\nNow, the CARA conference report would further implement the principles contained in TREAT by expanding the number of providers who can administer treatment, allowing HHS Secretary Burwell to authorize in-office treatment that excludes patients from the cap, and giving states greater flexibility in adjusting their own patient caps.\n\nBelow is a summary of TREAT Act provisions included in the CARA conference report:\n\no Allows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe buprenorphine to treat patients with opioid addiction for the first time, through 2021, following completion of addiction-treatment education.\n\no Seeks to provide patients with the opportunity to access the full range of available treatment options for their addiction treatment by ensuring providers are educated in addiction medicine and have the capacity to provide, either directly or by referral, all drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of opioid use disorder and any necessary counseling or ancillary services.\n\no Allows the Secretary to exclude patients from the cap if they are given long-acting versions of buprenorphine that are administered in a physician\u2019s office and not distributed to the patient for at-home use, therefore putting them at a low risk for diversion.\n\no Grants states the flexibility to adjust their total cap numbers within the parameters set in federal law.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-its-bird-its-plane-no-its-waste/", "It\u2019s a Bird\u2026 It\u2019s a Plane\u2026 NO, It\u2019s Waste!", "2016-07-12", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul highlights the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), a State Department agency, advertising a grant of $1.25 million in taxpayer funds to cover two seasons of a Pakistani superhero cartoon. This won\u2019t be your traditional Saturday morning show, however. Instead, the program, which will feature a character \u201cwho empowers youth in a way that aligns with INL\u2019s mission,\u201d will be aimed at ages 14 to 25.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nIf there is anything superheroes are known for, it is fighting crime. But could a superhero cartoon be used as a tool to deter terrorists in the real world? Well, Uncle Sam seems to think so and is spending taxpayer money on such an effort\u2026 in Pakistan.[1]\n\nThat is right!! The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), which is part of the Department of State, is currently advertising a $1.25 million grant opportunity to produce a superhero cartoon in Pakistan.\n\nIn total, INL is asking for 292 minutes of animation to be created over two 13-episode seasons, which comes out to $4,280 a minute from American taxpayers. It sounds like our government is again playing the villain in the story of fiscal responsibility.\n\nAccording to the solicitation, \u201cthe goal of the animated TV series is to inform, educate, and positively influence Pakistani youth (ages 14-25) through the creation of a strong role model who empowers youth in a way that aligns with INL\u2019s mission.\u201d Of course, 14- to 25-year-olds are probably less taken in by cartoon superheroes than younger viewers. Nonetheless, INL specifically is seeking to promote a drug-free lifestyle, gender equality, a fair criminal justice system, anti-corruption, and religious tolerance, among other things.\n\nThis may be a tall order, considering the superhero we\u2019re paying to create must be fully immersed in Pakistani life and culture \u2013 a culture where, though illegal, women can be publicly stoned for dishonoring their family while police look the other way, and where Osama Bin Laden was given safe harbor while the informant that outed him to U.S. personnel was sent to prison for 33 years for doing so.[2]\n\nOf course, Pakistan has something of its own real-life superhero in Malala Yousafzai, the young girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban for having the audacity to go to school. Her story of recovery and unyielding resolve to continue to fight for many of the same goals as INL earned her a Nobel Peace Prize. It is hard to imagine a fictional superhero that could possibly be a better role model to her generation and people than Malala[3]\u2026 so why are we spending your money to try to create one?\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-hhs-rule-change-victory-first-step/", "Dr. Rand Paul: HHS Rule-Change Victory a \u201cFirst Step\u201d", "2016-07-06", "2016", "2016-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul applauded the decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement changes called for by Dr. Paul and a bipartisan Senate coalition to increase access to much-needed treatment for those battling an opioid addiction. The Administration announced today that HHS will raise the number of patients to whom a doctor can prescribe buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone, from the current 100-patient barrier to 275 patients.\n\n\u201cAs a physician, I\u2019ve seen firsthand how well-intended but misguided federal interference restrains doctors from providing patients with the help they need. The current patient cap is keeping too many Kentuckians from treatment that could free them from addiction. Today\u2019s rule change is an important first step to unshackling and better empowering physicians to confront the growing epidemic of opioid addiction. Congress should pass the bipartisan TREAT Act to further increase the cap and expand the number of providers who can prescribe these important treatments,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\n\u201cThis final regulation is a result of Sen. Paul\u2019s common-sense proposal that passed the Senate Health Committee this spring and should be a great help to Kentuckians and Tennesseans alike working hard to beat addiction and lead healthier lives. I was glad to support Sen. Paul\u2019s proposal in committee\u2014and I look forward to soon getting a result on bicameral legislation to provide substantial support to states and local communities on the front lines of America\u2019s opioid abuse epidemic,\u201d Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said.\n\nDr. Paul is the lead Republican sponsor of the TREAT Act, which, along with increasing the patient cap and number of providers, would give states greater flexibility to adjust their state patient caps and require HHS and the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress about the legislation\u2019s effects on treatment and services. Dr. Paul and Senator Edward Markey originally introduced the TREAT Act in 2015. The TREAT Act unanimously passed the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in March.\n\nWhen Dr. Paul learned HHS originally intended to only increase the cap to 200 patients, he joined a bipartisan group of senators in urging HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell to extend the cap to 500, the limit included in the TREAT Act.\n\nClick HERE to read the TREAT Act in its entirety. Top-line bullet points and background information on the TREAT Act can be found below.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE TREAT ACT\n\nExpands the maximum allowable patient cap from 100 to 500 maximum patients.\n\nChanges the initial (first year) allowable patient load under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from 30 to 100, and after one year a physician may request to treat up to 500 patients.\n\nAllows certain physicians, after one year, to request to treat up to 500 patients. To be eligible:\n\nPhysicians must be substance abuse treatment specialists, as recognized by specific board or society certifications, or\n\nNon-specialist physicians must complete 24 hours of approved training.\n\nPhysicians must also maintain records about whether they provide counseling services on site or refer patients elsewhere for such services, and how frequently such patients use those services, and the frequency with which patients terminate treatment against medical advice.\n\nProvides states the flexibility to set the patient cap for their state at higher or lower than the cap under the CSA (but no lower than 30 patients and no more than 500). States may also set requirements about the types of facilities or practice settings physicians can use to treat addiction patients, required education, or reporting requirements.\n\nAllows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) to be able to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid addiction for the first time. NPs and PAs would be qualified to treat up to 100 patients if they complete 24 hours of education on the treatment of addiction patients.\n\nRequires HHS, after 2 years, and GAO, after 4 years, to issue reports to Congress about the effect of this legislation in terms of availability of treatment, quality of treatment programs, integration with other health care services, diversion, state-level policies, and use of nurse practitioners and physician\u2019s assistants to provide this treatment.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:57:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-secures-vital-change-kentucky-soldiers-upcoming-census/", "Sen. Rand Paul Secures Vital Change for Kentucky Soldiers in Upcoming Census", "2016-06-30", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the U.S. Census Bureau responded to Senator Rand Paul\u2019s efforts to secure a vital reform in the 2020 census by changing its rules to count all deployed service members at the residence prior to their deployment. Previously, the census instead counted soldiers temporarily deployed for overseas contingency operations by their home of record, an address they gave when they enlisted.\n\n\u201cI applaud the Census Bureau for adopting my proposal to ensure our service members are properly counted in the census. They listened to the people of Kentucky, who experienced the consequences of the census\u2019 inaccurate reporting directly in 2010 and took action,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cIn addition to creating one consistent and logical method for counting deployed service members, today\u2019s change will better enable communities to support our soldiers and their families. This proves what can happen when concerned citizens get involved, and I urge Kentuckians to join me in contacting the Census Bureau in support of this revision before the final comment period expires at the end of July.\u201d\n\nSen. Paul responded to his constituents\u2019 concerns about the Census Bureau\u2019s reporting by contacting the Bureau and introducing the \u201cService Members and Communities Count Act\u201d in 2015. Today\u2019s change essentially incorporates Sen. Paul\u2019s legislation into the Census Bureau\u2019s rules. While the region around Fort Campbell, Kentucky, had grown greatly since the 2000 census, the 2010 census did not accurately reflect this growth due to the Bureau\u2019s then-current policy on counting deployed service members.\n\nKelli Pendleton, President of Kentucky\u2019s Christian County Chamber of Commerce, commented on the importance of the change, noting, \u201cWhen a census count happens during a division deployment, it has a large impact on our local economy and regional data.\u201d She also thanked Sen. Paul for his leadership on the issue, saying, \u201cOur Chamber has been advocating for this issue for many years, and we appreciate Senator Paul\u2019s support in helping to make this happen.\u201d\n\nHopkinsville, Kentucky, Mayor Carter Hendricks added that his community is \u201cpleased to see this important change,\u201d and he thanked \u201cSenator Paul\u2019s leadership and the efforts of our Kentucky Congressional delegation.\u201d Mayor Hendricks also said that the revision is \u201ccritical, as these are the very communities that provide the support necessary for the men and women of the U.S. Army to succeed in their mission at hand when they deploy.\u201d\n\nThe public is encouraged to submit their comments on this issue HERE.\n\nNo related posts.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-ridiculousness-12-billion-dollars-spent-collecting-taxes/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights the Ridiculousness of $12 Billion Dollars Spent On Collecting Taxes", "2016-06-28", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition, Sen. Paul highlights the ridiculously high cost of collecting annual taxes. The government spends over $12 billion dollars and employs almost 90,000 workers just to administer and collect taxes. To put that in perspective, over 1.5 million average American taxpayers pay taxes just to pay the cost of running our tax system.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nMost people hate taxes, not just paying them, but the arduous, painful process of filing a tax return. No one would argue that the United States\u2019 tax code is simple and easy. But did you know, the government spends over $12 billion dollars and employs almost 90,000 workers just to administer and collect taxes?[1]\n\nTo put that in prospective, over 1.5 million average American taxpayers pay taxes just to pay the cost of running our tax system.[2] In fact, we spend $2 billion more on the Internal Revenue Service, to tax money out of the economy, than we do on the Department of Commerce to theoretically promote the economy.\n\nSo, why does our tax system require all this? Well, let\u2019s start with a little history. Our current tax system was established 103 years ago with the passage of the 16th Amendment. The first federal income tax under that system had one form that was four pages long: one for income, one for deductions (of which there were six), and one to calculate your tax liability (there were seven brackets with a top marginal rate of 7%). Oh, and one page of instructions. That was all.[3]\n\nFast forward to today, there are hundreds of forms, worksheets, tables, and schedules. In fact, according to the Tax Foundation, there are over 10 million words in the tax code, and Americans spend 6.1 billion hours a year on their taxes.[4] You suppose they are called schedules because filling them out is going to suck up your day?\n\nThe major culprit is special carve outs and rules; as Congress raised rates they also expanded those six basic deductions into hundreds, to help mitigate the higher rates. Weird, huh? In fact the Congressional Research Service issued a more than 1000 page report in 2012 chronicling over 250 deductions and credits. And there is nothing basic about deductions anymore; one that caught our eye at the FSO Subcommittee was \u201c60-40 Rule for Gains or Loss from Section 1256 Contracts.\u201d[5]\n\nWe think it either has something to do with trading futures, or is maybe a credit for taxes already paid in the future as a result of time-travel (the McFly-Brown credit?).\n\nWhereas in 1913, anyone with their one page of instructions could fill out a tax return more easily then assembling an Ikea bookcase, today, almost everyone needs help. In fact, 92 percent of filers use some kind of help like a paid professional or tax software. Even about 73 percent of Internal Revenue Service employees (the guys running this system) need help with their taxes.[6]\n\nOf course, not everyone can afford help. In fact Uncle Sam spends around $200 million helping poor and elderly people understand and file their taxes. What is interesting about that is most low income people generally aren\u2019t dealing with Section 1256 Contracts (or time traveling DeLoreans), but the system is so complicated that even a simple return is still pretty hard.\n\nEven after you file, you may not be done \u2013 you may have made a mistake. After spending $200 million helping people file their taxes, we spend another $200 million for the Taxpayer Advocate, an office that can help you if the IRS is giving you an undeserved hard time.\n\n1.5 million people paying taxes to support tax collection and $400 million spent trying to help people traverse this goliath. It all seems unnecessarily complicated and wasteful.\n\n###\n\n[1]https://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/CJ17/02-06.%20IRS%20FY%202017%20CJ%201%2022%2016%20v2%20FINAL%20CLEAN.PDF\n\n[2] FSO Calculation based on average tax liability of $7,212\n\n[3]https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/1913.pdf\n\n[4]http://taxfoundation.org/blog/federal-tax-laws-and-regulations-are-now-over-10-million-words-long\n\n[5]https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-113SPRT91950/pdf/CPRT-113SPRT91950.pdf\n\n[6]https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2012reports/201240001fr.pdf", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-50000000-nih-grant-studying-peoples-fondness-spicy-foods/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $500,000.00 NIH Grant Studying People\u2019s Fondness for Spicy Foods", "2016-06-21", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition, Sen. Paul uncovers the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spending $500,000.00 to study people\u2019s rejection threshold for spice and bitterness.\n\n\u201cOur government is spending funds like drunken sailors, but at least sailors spend their own money. This is taxpayer money that is just being wasted! No matter what the result from these wasteful studies, one thing is clear, they leave a bitter taste in taxpayer\u2019s mouths\u201d Stated Senator Paul.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found below.\n\nSince 2011, one researcher at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has received approximately half a million dollars to study people\u2019s rejection threshold for spice and bitterness. The study found people seeking sensation like spice, but generally personality has no relation to liking spicy foods.\n\nA paper associated with this study explored the correlation between one\u2019s personality and their affinity for spicy foods. Surprisingly, the same paper discovered that \u201cas expected, a strong relationship was found between liking spicy foods and frequency of chili consumption.\u201d\n\nAdditionally, similar egregious studies have been uncovered by the office of Senator Rand Paul. One such study sought to determine what level of bitterness was objectionable for chocolate milk consumers. The result: People with a preference for dark chocolate are able to tolerate 2.3 times more bitterness than those who prefer milk chocolate. A third, and also separate study explored the bitterness in wine and how one\u2019s wine expertise predicts willingness to try new wines and foods.\n\nThe combined cost for all of these studies? Taxation from nearly 70 average Americans working for an entire calendar year.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-stands-second-amendment-rights-while-keeping-weapons-away-terrorists/", "Dr. Rand Paul Stands Up For Second Amendment Rights, While Keeping Weapons Away From Terrorists", "2016-06-20", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, Dr. Rand Paul voted to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists while still preserving the constitutional rights of all Americans. Paul voted for the Cornyn Amendment, which notifies the FBI if anyone on the terror watch list tries to buy a gun.\n\nDuring the 72 hour waiting period, the FBI can arrest the suspect or present the suspect to a judge with probable cause to prevent the purchase of weapons.\n\nWhen Dr. Paul discovered that the Orlando killer was not on any terror watch list he advocated to change the Cornyn Amendment to ensure that anyone investigated by the FBI would stay on the terror watch list for five years.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s advocacy for this change led to the modification of the Cornyn Amendment so that the new system could possibly stop an attacker such as the Orlando killer or the Boston bombers.\n\nIn a prepared statement, Dr. Paul explained his vote:\n\n\u201cBy all means we should do everything possible to prevent terrorists from buying weapons, but we should never take away any American\u2019s Second Amendment rights without due process. Innocent until proven guilty is the basis of our judicial system. We should not abridge any of our basic rights without due process in a court of law,\u201d Dr. Paul said.\n\nTo prevent further massacres such as Orlando we must ask some pointed questions of the FBI.\n\n\u201cI recently asked the FBI Director, why was this investigation closed? The Orlando killer at least twice threatened violence against co-workers, he knew another suicide bomber, he travelled to Saudi Arabia, and five weeks before the massacre a gun store owner reported him to the FBI. The FBI dropped the ball here. To prevent more tragedies like this from recurring, we need to insist that the FBI does more thorough investigations,\u201d stated Dr. Paul.\n\nDr. Rand Paul will continue to fight to keep America safe from terror, but he will also fight to protect our constitutional rights such as the Second Amendment and advocate for common sense solutions such as more complete FBI investigations.\n\n###\n\nNo related posts.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-nsf-spending-375000-study-importance-federal-research-funding/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers NSF Spending $375,000 to Study Importance of Federal Research Funding", "2016-06-14", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government. In the latest edition, Sen. Paul uncovers the National Science Foundation (NSF) spending $375,000 on a two-year study to determine what effects the availability of federal funding for research has on scientists\u2019 career choices and scientific outcomes.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nIt seems kind of circular, getting federal research funding to study the importance of federal research funding. Well that is exactly what the National Science Foundation (NSF) is doing, spending $375,000 on a 2-year study to determine what effects the availability of federal funding for research has on scientists\u2019 career choices and scientific outcomes. One can only imagine what the findings will be\u2026\n\nThe grant synopsis reads in part:\n\nYoung life science researchers\u2026 may elect to begin their careers by either entering academia, or by joining biotechnology or pharmaceutical firms\u2026 career choice is also affected by external constraints such as the availability of, and competition for, [federal] research funding. [1]\n\nThough the Waste Report has reported on federal research shenanigans like how to have the perfect first date and the gambling habits of Ugandans (and many more), is it actually budget unpredictability that is putting critical research in jeopardy? Just how volatile is federal funding for research?\n\nWe decided to look and what we found makes funding this project all the more unnecessary. Looking at federal research funding, adjusted for inflation, since the year 2000 for NSF, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and overall, we found that since 2000, funding has increased 197%, 198% and 176% respectively. Further, we found that on average, funding for scientific research in these areas increased, again in real terms, 7.23 %, 7.3%, and 6.7% per year.[2]\n\nBut since, \u201cHistorically the amount of public research funding has changed over time reflecting congressional priorities\u2026\u201d and this project hopes to identify, \u201creforms that create more certainty in the budget allocation process could generate greater social benefits at lower costs\u2026\u201d We thought we look even farther back, say 50 years, to see just how uncertain federal research funding might be. To find out if there was some real year-to-year volatility we looked at a three and five year moving average.\n\nWhat we found is, over 50 years, funding for federal research (in real terms) has increased on average about 8.7 percent a year, and the two moving averages both hold within a half a percentage point. Similar results were found for NSF and NIH, which itself saw an average increase of 13.54% and a five year moving average of 12.33%.\n\nIn other words, federal research funding does not show uncertainty, in fact it shows stable and constant growth; and it did not take us two years and $375,000 to figure that out.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-rand-paul-mike-lee-dianne-feinstein-urge-support-due-process-guarantee-act/", "Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, & Dianne Feinstein Urge Support for Due Process Guarantee Act", "2016-06-09", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joined Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the floor of the Senate to speak in support of the Due Process Guarantee Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA).\n\nThe transcript and video of the floor speech are available below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Lee: Mr. President, I rise today to discuss and to urge my colleagues to support amendment number 4448, the due process guarantee amendment. This amendment addresses a little known problem that I believe most Americans would be shocked to discover even exists.\n\nUnder current law, the federal government has proclaimed the power, has arrogated to itself the power to obtain indefinitely without charge or trial U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents who are apprehended on American soil. Let that sink in for just a minute.\n\nIf you\u2019re a U.S. Citizen or U.S. Green card holder and you\u2019re arrested on American soil because you\u2019re suspected of supporting a terrorist group or other enemy of the United States, the federal government has claimed the power to detain you indefinitely without formally charging you or without offering you a trial.\n\nI\u2019m not talking about American citizens who travel to foreign lands to take up arms against the United States military and are captured on the battlefield. No, I\u2019m talking here about U.S. Citizens who are apprehended right here in the United States of America.\n\nUnder current law, even they can be imprisoned for an unspecified, in fact unlimited period of time without ever being charged or being given the benefit \u2013 without the benefit of a jury trial to which they are entitled. You don\u2019t need to be a defense attorney to recognize what an outrage this is.\n\nArresting U.S. Citizens on American soil and then detaining them indefinitely without charge or trial is an obvious deviation from the Constitutional right to due process of law. The last time the federal government exercised such power during the interment of Japanese Americans during World War II without Congressional authorization, Congress responded by passing a law to prevent it from happening again. Of course such legal protection should not need to be codified into federal statute in the first place, but they did it anyway.\n\nThe fifth amendment of the Constitution states in no uncertain terms that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. But then again as James Madison reminded us, if men were angels, no government would be necessary.\n\nSo in the wake of World War II, Congress passed and President Nixon signed the Nondetention Act of 1971 which states, \u201cno citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an act of Congress.\u201d\n\nThose last few words are absolutely crucial, except pursuant to an act of Congress. The Nondetention Act of 1971 recognized as I believe most Americans do, that in some cases, in some grave, treacherous, unfortunate case, indefinite detention of U.S. Citizens may in the eyes of some be deemed necessary.\n\nBut the point is that the federal government does not inherently possess the power of indefinite detention. To the extent such power can even be said to exist within our Constitutional framework at all, a question that many of us would regard as at least debatable. Certainly only an act of Congress such as an authorization for the use of military force or AUMF or perhaps a declaration of war can give the federal government that power.\n\nBut fast forward 40 years and this important legal protection has eroded. You see, in 2011, 40 years after the passage of the Nondetention Act of 1971, Congress passed its annual national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2012. The predecessor of the bill that we\u2019re considering today.\n\nIn that version of the NDAA, there was a provision, section 1021 giving the federal government the power to detain U.S. Citizens indefinitely without trial, even those who were apprehended on American soil. Now, it may sound like section 1021 meets the act of Congress threshold established by the Nondetention Act of 1971, but importantly, it does not.\n\nIt does no such thing. Here\u2019s why. The language of section 1021 merely presumes that the 2001 AUMF gives the government the right to detain U.S. Citizens indefinitely without having to prove anything. Even though an explicit grant of such power appears nowhere, nowhere at all in the 2001 AUMF. My amendment would resolve this problem.\n\nIn clear and straightforward language, my amendment clarifies that a general authorization to use military force, a declaration of war or any similar authority, on its own shall not be construed to authorize the imprisonment or detention without charge or \u2013 detention without charge or trial of a doesn\u2019t of the United States apprehended in the United States.\n\nThis means that if Congress believes it\u2019s necessary to have the power to indefinitely detain United States citizens captured in the U.S., then Congress must expressly say so in any authorization it passes. My amendment recognizes that their due process protections of U.S. Citizens are far too important to leave up to implied legal contemplation.\n\nThe 2001 AUMF does not expressly state that the federal government has the power to detain indefinitely American citizens on American soil. You will not find that. So if those who believe that it is somehow in the national security interests of the United States for the federal government to have that power, they should file an amendment to the AUMF that says so explicitly.\n\nAnd then we can see that the American people think and we can find out just as importantly what their elected representatives in the house and in the senate think. Or they can file an entirely new AUMF that provides such authority expressly.\n\nNow, Mr. President, this amendment, the one that I\u2019m discussing today, this should not be controversial. In fact, in 2012, just a year after the initial offending provision that I described a moment ago, was passed, the senate passed this amendment with 67 votes, in large part thanks to the tireless efforts of my distinguished colleague, the senior senator from California, senator Feinstein, who joins me as a cosponsor of the amendment today.\n\nUnfortunately, the due process guarantee amendment was stripped from that version of the NDAA. The NDAA passed in 2012 or 2013 during the conference process. At the time some opponents of the amendment were under the impression that it would extend due process protections to U.S. Citizens apprehended outside the United States, but that, Mr. President, is undeniably false.\n\nThe due process guarantee amendment applies only to U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents who are apprehended on U.S. Soil. It has been four years since that misunderstanding prevented Congress from passing this commonsense, bipartisan reform.\n\nThat is more than enough time for this institution to gain clarity on what this amendment does do, and just as importantly, on what this amendment does not do. And so I.T. Time, Mr. President, that we finally pass this amendment. And I urge each of my colleagues to do so.\n\nSen. Paul: Will the senator yield for a question?\n\nSen. Lee: Yes.\n\nSen. Paul: Four years ago we passed legislation under the defense authorization that allows the American government to detain an American citizen without a trial. Think about that. One of our basic riots, one of our basic rights, one of our most basic rights is to have a jury of our peers. And you say, oh, well, it\u2019ll never be used.\n\nPresident Obama recognized this. He said, this is a terrible power and I promise never to use it. Any president who says a power is so terrible he\u2019s not going to use it should not be on the books. As the senator from Utah said, it\u2019s not about having laws that require angels to be in charge of your government.\n\nSomeday there will be someone in charge of the government that makes a grievous mistake, like rounding up the Japanese. So we have to be very, very careful about giving power to our government. That\u2019s what the challenge is here. Many will say, well, we are at war and at war you have to have the law of war. What is the law of war also known as? Martial law.\n\nBut this is a war that does not seem to have an end. They\u2019re not asking you for a one- or two-year period in which there won\u2019t be trials. They\u2019re asking you to relinquish your right to trial for a war that may have no end. And I want you to imagine this. Who could these enemy combatants be that may not get trials?\n\nImagine that you\u2019re an Arab-American living in Dearborn, Michigan, and you send an e-mail to someone overseas. May be that person is a bad person. But should not an Arab-American in Dearborn, Michigan, have a right to defend themselves in court and say, I was just sending an e-mail to them, but I am not a terrorist. Shouldn\u2019t they get the right to defend themselves?\n\nWe need to be very careful that as we fight this long war that we don\u2019t wake up one day and say, we won the war but we lost what we stood for, we lost the bill of rights, we lost what our soldiers \u2013 I know soldiers who have lost two arms and a leg fighting for us, and they come back and they say, they were fighting for the bill of rights. That\u2019s what this should be about, protecting the bill of rights while they\u2019re gone.\n\nAnd so the question I have for my esteemed colleague is, some will say, well, they get a hearing, they get a habeas hearing, they go before a judge. Isn\u2019t that due process? Is a habeas hearing equivalent to due process?\n\nSen. Lee: No, no, it may include habeas but some might say habeas corpus is the beginning of due process, not the end of the sometimes it occurs at the beginning, sometimes at the end. But regardless when it occurs, a habeas proceeding does not represent the sum total universe of what due process moons.\n\nLook you can\u2019t read the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments to the Constitution to see what happened in the version of the NDAA that we passed in 2011 was an affront to the Constitutional order. It was an aberration. Now, we\u2019re not asking for anything drastic.\n\nAll we are asking here is that before the government takes the type of drastic step you\u2019re describing, that at a minimum that we require Congress to expressly authorize that is. Is that really too much? And for those who would say we\u2019re at war, we\u2019re in danger and I understand the point.\n\nThere are those who don\u2019t like our way of life. They perhaps want to do us harm. For those who would say that we are at war and we\u2019ve got to that I can into account and we\u2019ve got to consider that, my response is okay, if that\u2019s the case, then let\u2019s at least do it the way we\u2019re supposed to do T let\u2019s at least have that discussion.\n\nRather than doing it by subterfuge, rather than doing it under a cloud of uncertainty, rather than doing it by implications. We would to do so expressly. That\u2019s all this amendment does.\n\nSen. Paul: Let me clarify in a follow-up question. If an American doesn\u2019t goes to Syria and fights with ISIS and is captured on the battlefield, this amendment would not mean that they get a trial?\n\nSen. Lee: No.\n\nSen. Paul: They still could be held as an enemy combatant?\n\nSen. Lee: This would not cover that at all. That person is captured on the battlefield outside the United States. That person wouldn\u2019t be covered by this amendment. Pau, let\u2019s also be clear what we\u2019re talking about. People who have been defined as enemy combatants aren\u2019t always holding a we\u2019ve meant you can a promise began difficulty.\n\nWe have had propagandists who were killed overseas who were propagandists for the enemy. So it is conceivable that an American citizen could be exchanging information, and say something derogatory about us or something in favor of the enemy and that could be considered to be \u2013 that person is not a propagandist.\n\nSen. Paul: I guess my point is, soon they have day in court to determine the facts and have representation as opposed to being plucked up and saying, you\u2019re going to Guantanamo bay for the rest of your life because you made some criticism that is now the state has deemed you an enemy?\n\nSen. Lee: That\u2019s absolutely right. That is why we need these protections. That helps illustrate the slippery-slope nature of this problem. It also emphasizes why it is if there are some in our body who want to make sure this power exists in the government that we must pass legislation affirmatively making it so, expressly providing that power rather than doing it indirectly.\n\nThat\u2019s all our amendment does. This is indeed a slippery slope. If all you have to do is indefinitely detain someone without charge, without trial, success their rights under the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments, if that\u2019s all you have to do is charge them in a certain way, then our Constitutional protections have become weakened indeed, weakened to a dangerous degree.\n\nSen. Paul: And is it currently true that this amendment is being blocked by one senator from gaining a vote?\n\nSen. Lee: We\u2019re trying to get a vote. This got a vote in 2012. This received 67 votes from, votes from people of both parties, from members, one person who you may be thinking of who has objections to it now. If we\u2019re going to get on other amendments, this should get a vote.\n\nNo has explained to me why this should not, at a minimum, receive a vote. If someone doesn\u2019t like this, fine, let had a them vote again it. This is very relevant to the national defense authorization act. It was the national defense authorization act passed in 2011 that was the vehicle for enacting this into law.\n\nSen. Paul: I guess were concluding point I would like is we have time in the senate body to vote about which rockets we\u2019re going to use, made in which state, in which country. Shouldn\u2019t we have time to vote about the abrogation of the bill of rights, of the right of a trial by jury?\n\nI think that this is an eminently important issue, should not be pushed under the rug, and that no one should be afraid to take a stand, not everyone will agree, but we should be allowed to take a stand on the senate floor, openly debate and have a vote on whether or not you will have your right to trial by jury or whether or not we are going to abbreviate that right and said we are at war.\n\nBut realize if you that I rights can be abbreviated at a time of war, that the people who tell you they are going to abbreviate rights are also telling that you this war has no end. Floss conceivable end to this war and the diminishment of your lint, the loss of your right to trial by jury will go on I understand on without end.\n\nI wholeheartedly support my fellow senator from Utah\u2019s amendment and I advocate for having a vote on the senate floor.\n\nSen. Lee: I agree, and I\u2019d note the presence of my distinguished colleague from California. I yield the floor so she can address the amendment of.\n\nSen. Feinstein: I thank the senator, Mr. President.\n\nThe presiding officer: The senator from California.\n\nSen. Feinstein: Thank you very much.\n\nI have listened to this debate and I rise to urge my colleagues to allow a vote on this due process guarantee amendment. Sen. Lee has filed it. I am a cosponsor, and I\u2019m delighted to be a cosponsor. We actually voted on an earlier version of this amendment in the 2012, so this is nothing new.\n\nWhat members may not recall is that it passed with 67 votes as an amendment to this bill for 2013. I would also note that thanks to then-chairman Leahy, the bill on which this amendment is based had a hearing in the judiciary committee on February 29, 2012. So this bill has come before this body before. It got 67 votes, and it\u2019s had a hearing in the judiciary committee three years ago.\n\nUnfortunately, the amendment was taken out of the NDAA in conference that year. So it\u2019s my hope that the senate will pass this amendment again this year and that the house will support it so that the law will clearly protect Americans in the united STA from indefinite detention from their own government. Now, members may say, well, this isn\u2019t going to happen.\n\nWe\u2019re not going to do this. But we have done it. And I remember has a small child going just south of San Francisco to a racetrack called Tanfaran. And it wasn\u2019t a racetrack. It was a detention center for Japanese-Americans during world War II. And there were hundreds of families housed there for years against their will.\n\nTo prevent this from ever happening again, congress passed and president Nixon signed into law the non-detention act of 1971, which clearly states \u2013 and I quote \u2013 \u201cNo citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an act of congress.\u201d Now, that sounds good, but it didn\u2019t go far enough.\n\nDespite the shameful history of indefinite detention of Americans and the legal controversy since 9/11, some in the senate have advocated for the indefinite detention of U.S. Citizens during debate on the defense authorization bill in past years. These members have argued that the supreme court\u2019s plurality decision in the 2004 case of Hamdi V. Rumsfeld supports their view.\n\nHowever, the Hamdi case involved an American captured by the United States military on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Yasser Hamdi was a U.S. Citizen who took up arms on behalf of the Taliban. And he was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, not on United States soil.\n\nThat\u2019s the difference. While the Supreme Court did effectively uphold Hamdi\u2019s military detention, the supreme court did not accept the government\u2019s broad assertions of executive authority to detain citizens without charge or trial. In fact, the Hamdi decision says clearly that it covers only \u2013 and I quote \u2013 \u201cIndividuals falling into the limited category we are considering.\u201d End quote.\n\nAnd it did not foreclose the possibility that indefinite detention of a United States citizen would raise a Constitutional problem at a later date. Since Hamdi was decided in 2004, decisions by the lower courts have contributed to the legal ambiguity when it comes to the detention of U.S. Citizens apprehended in our very own country.\n\nYou can look at the case of Jose Padilla. He\u2019s a United States citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002. Padilla was initially detained by the bush administration under a material witness warrant based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and later designated as an enemy combatant who allegedly conspired with Al Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks, including a plot to detonate a dirty bomb inside our country.\n\nPadilla was transferred to a military brig in South Carolina where he was detained for three and a half years while seeking his freedom by filing a writ of habeas corpus in federal court.\n\nNow it\u2019s important to note that Padilla was never charged with attempting to carry out the dirty bomb plot. Instead, he was released from military custody in November 2005 and transferred to civilian federal custody in Florida where he was indicted on other charges in federal court related to terrorist plots overseas.\n\nIn a 2003 decision by the circuit court known as Padilla V. Rumsfeld, the court of appeals held that the 2001 authorization for use of military force, which we call the AUMF, did not authorize Padilla\u2019s military detention.\n\nThe decision stated \u2013 and I quote \u2013 \u201cWe conclude that clear congressional authorization is required for detentions of American citizens on American soil because 18 U.S.C. 401-a, the Non-Detention Act prohibits such detentions after specific congressional authorization.\u201d\n\nThe Padilla case bounced back and forth from the second circuit up to the Supreme Court, then to the fourth circuit and the legality of his military detention was never conclusively resolved. Thus, there remains ambiguity about whether a congressional authorization for the use of military force permits the indefinite detention of United States citizens arrested on United States soil.\n\nSo let me repeat 12 years after Padilla was initially arrested and detained, he was finally sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2014. The simple point, Mr. President, is that we can protect national security while also ensuring that the Constitutional due process rights of every American captured within the United States are protected.\n\nThat\u2019s what this amendment would do. Like the amendment that passed here in 2012 with 67 votes on this floor, this amendment would prevent the government from using a general authorization for the use of military force to apprehend Americans at home and detain them without charge or trial indefinitely. So no one could be picked up and not charged and held indefinitely, which is now permissible.\n\nIt states very simply \u2013 this is our legislation. \u201cA general authorization to use military force, a declaration of war or any similar authority on its own shall not be construed to authorize the imprisonment or detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States apprehended in the United States.\u201d\n\nThe amendment also modifies the existing subsection a of the Non-Detention Act. So it covers lawful permanent residence of the United States and ensures that any detention is consistent with the Constitution. So new subsection a will read \u2013 and I quote \u2013 \u201cNo citizen or lawful permanent resident shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an act of congress that expressly authorizes such imprisonment or detention.\n\nNow let me explain the impact of these changes to the law. First, the United States government will continue to be able to detain U.S. Citizens or lawful permanent residents on a foreign battlefield pursuant to an authorization to use military force, like what we passed after 9/11. That AUMF provides the authority to detain Al Qaeda, ISIL, and affiliated terrorist fires.\n\nIn other words, if the government needs to detain an enemy combatant on a foreign battlefield under a post-9/11 congressional authorization to use force, that\u2019s not barred, even if the enemy combatant is in fact a U.S. Citizen. Indeed, the Supreme Court held in Hamdi that the AUMF is \u2013 quote \u2013 \u201cExplicit authorization\u201d for that limited kind of detention. So the amendment does not disturb the Hamdi decision.\n\nSecond, when acting with respect to citizens or lawful permanent residents apprehended at home, the amendment makes clear that a general authorization for use of military force does not authorize the detention without charge or trial of citizens or green cardholders like Padilla who are apprehended inside the United States.\n\nInstead, it should be arrested and charged like other terrorists captured in the United States. Now the simple point is indefinite military detention of Americans apprehended in the United States is not the American way and must not be allowed. In the United States the F.B.I. And other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have proven time and time again that they\u2019re up to the challenge of detecting, stopping, arresting, and convicting terrorists found on United States soil.\n\nOur law enforcement personnel have successfully arrested, detained and convicted literally hundreds of terrorists, both before and after 9/11. Specifically, there were 580 terrorism-related convictions in the federal criminal court between 9/11 and the end of 2014. That\u2019s according to the department of justice.\n\nAnd more recently, federal prosecutors have charged 85 men and women around our country in connection with ISIL since March of 2014. Suspected terrorists can still be detained within the United States criminal justice system using at least the follow four options: One, they can be charged with a federal or state crime and held.\n\nTwo, some can be held for violating immigration laws. Three, they can be held as a material witness as part of a federal grand jury proceeding. Or four, they can be detained under section 412 of the patriot act, which provides that an alien may be detained for up to six months if their release \u2013 quote \u2013 \u201cWill threaten the national security of the United States or the safety of the community of any person.\u201d\n\nSimply put, there is no shortage of authority for United States law enforcement to take the necessary actions on our soil to protect the homeland. Some may ask why in legislation protects green cardholders as well as citizens. And others may ask why the bill does not protect all persons apprehended in the United States from indefinite military protection.\n\nLet me make clear I would support providing the protections in this amendment to all persons in the United States, but the question comes, there is some political support to expand it, to cover others besides U.S. Citizens and green cardholders. We went through this in 2012, I believe, Mr. President, before you were here.\n\nThe overriding situation stop prevent the federal government from moving in and be picking up Americans and holding them without charge or trial as was done with Japanese Americans after World War II. And finally, with the passage of this, we will close out that chapter once and for all.\n\nSo this isn\u2019t about whether citizens apprehended in the United States like Jose Padilla or others who would do us harm should be captured, interrogated, incarcerated and severely punished. They should be, to the fullest extent the law allows. But not an innocent American picked up off the street and held without charge or trial.\n\nNot because of somebody\u2019s name or looks or heritage. So what about how a future president might abuse the authority to indefinitely detain people militarily here in the United States? Our Constitution gives everyone in the United States basic due process rights. The Fifth Amendment provides no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.\n\nAnd this is a basic tenet of our Constitution and our values. People are entitled to notice of charges, to an opportunity to be heard, and to a fair proceeding before a neutral arbiter. In criminal cases the accused also has a right to a speedy and public trial by a jury of their peers.\n\nSo these protections are really a sacred part of who we are as Americans, and I think it\u2019s something we all take great pride in and that now is once again the time. We did this in 2012 and the 2013 NDAA bill. It received 67 votes on this floor. And I would hope that we would not be blocked from taking another vote on this.\n\nWe experimented with indefinite detention during World War II. It\u2019s a mistake we all realized, and a betrayal of our core values. So let\u2019s not repeat it.\n\nI want to thank Sen. Lee, Sen. Tom Udall, Senator Cruz, Sen. Paul and others who have worked with us through the years. And I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I yield the floor. Thank you very much.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-speaks-out-against-lautenberg-act-and-dangers-new-federal-regulations/", "Sen. Rand Paul Speaks Out Against Lautenberg Act and the Dangers of New Federal Regulations", "2016-06-08", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On the U.S. Senate floor yesterday, Senator Rand Paul delivered the following remarks regarding his opposition to the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act (\u201cTSCA Modernization Act,\u201d H.R. 2576) and the dangers of new, overreaching federal regulations. During the speech, Sen. Paul argued that while some regulations may appear beneficial, in actuality they are unconstitutional and have harmful, long-term consequences.\n\nA transcript of Sen. Paul\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery and video of his floor speech are available below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Paul: Milton Friedman once said that if we gave the federal government control of the Sahara Desert within five years there would be a shortage of sand.\n\nI tend to agree and it worries me anytime a consensus builds to federalize anything.\n\nI have spent the past week reading this bill, this sweeping federal takeover of chemical regulations and I am now more worried than I was before I read the bill.\n\nMost worrisome, beyond the specifics of the bill, is the creeping infestation of the business community with the idea that the argument is no longer about minimizing regulations but about making regulations regular.\n\nBusinesses seem to just want uniformity of regulation as opposed to minimization of regulation. A good analogy is that of how business responds to malingerers who fake slip and fall injuries. Some businesses choose to limit expenses by settling for small amounts. Some brave businesses choose to legally defend themselves against all nuisance claims.\n\nFederalizing the chemical regulations is settling with the slip and fall malingerer and hoping he or she will keep their extortion at a reasonable level.\n\nIn the process, though, we will have abandoned principle. We will have given up the state laboratories where economic success and regulatory restraint are aligned. It is no accident that the regulatory restraint occurs in states that host chemical companies and ensures that state legislatures will be well aware of the economic impact of over-bearing regulation.\n\nFederalization of regulations separates the people who benefit from a successful chemical industry from the unelected bureaucrats who will write the regulations. Once that tie is severed, the joint incentive to minimize regulations is lost.\n\nIn fact, this legislation explicitly bans the consideration of a regulation\u2019s economic cost when deciding which chemicals will be put in the high risk category. Once a chemical has been labeled high risk, the legal liability and stigma that will attach will effectively ban the substance without the effect on the economy ever being considered. Regardless of what the final regulations actually say, the subsequent public reaction and lawsuits will have the effect of driving the chemical out of the market. If we are to ignore the cost of regulations, if we are to ignore the relationship between regulations and job loss, there is basically no limit to the fervor and ferocity that will be unleashed by bureaucrats whose perpetual mandate is to regulate.\n\nI always thought that we needed more balance not less in deciding on new regulations. I always thought that we should balance the environment AND the economy. Instead of balancing the economic effects and the environmental effects this bill explicitly says to regulators your mandate is to regulate, period. This bill explicitly says that the economic impact of regulations is only considered after the EPA has decided to regulate.\n\nIs this really the best we can do?\n\nSometimes I wonder, if we deserve the government we have? When the business community gets together and seeks federal regulation, I wonder. Have they not paid any attention to what has been going on in Washington? Are they unaware of the devastating explosion of federal regulations? Are they unaware that today\u2019s overbearing regulations were yesterday\u2019s benign advisories?\n\nAre they unaware that the most benign and well-intended regulations of the 1970\u2019s are now written and re-written by a President mad with regulatory zeal?\n\nFor those who are unaware of the devastation the EPA has wreaked upon our people, I request that you come and visit Eastern Kentucky or West Virginia. The EPA\u2019s war on coal has spread a trail of despair amongst a proud people. Many of these counties have unemployment over twice the national rate.\n\nThe regulations that are crippling and destroying our jobs in Kentucky were not passed by Congress. These job-killing regulations are monsters that emerged from the toxic swamp of big government bureaucrats at the EPA. The Obama/Clinton War on Coal largely came from regulations that were extensions of seemingly bland well intended laws from the 1970\u2019s.\n\nLaws like the Clean Water Act were well intended \u2013 legislating that you can\u2019t discharge pollutants into a navigable stream. I\u2019m for that. But somehow the courts and the bureaucrats came to decide that dirt was a pollutant and your backyard just might have a \u201cnexus\u201d to a puddle which has a nexus to a ditch which was frequented by a migratory bird that might have flown from the ditch to the Great Lakes. Ergo, the EPA can now jail you for putting dirt on your own land. Now, since that craziness has infected the EPA, we have the Feds asserting regulatory control of over the majority of the land in most states.\n\nWill the federal takeover of chemical regulations eventually morph into a war on chemical companies similar to what happened to the coal industry? I don\u2019t know but it concerns me enough to examine this bill closely.\n\nAnytime we are told that everyone is for something, anytime we are told that we should stand aside and not challenge the status quo, I become suspicious that it is precisely the time someone needs to look very closely to what is happening.\n\nI also worry about federal laws pre-empting state laws. Admittedly, sometimes states such as California go overboard and regulate businesses out of existence, or at least, chase them to another state.\n\nHowever, California\u2019s excess is Texas\u2019 benefit. I grew up along the Texas Coast. Many of my family members work in the chemical industry. Texas became a haven because of its location and its reasonableness with regard to regulation. Because Texas and Louisiana have such a mutually beneficial relationship with the chemical industry it is hard to imagine a time when the Texas or Louisiana legislature would vote to over-regulate or ignore the cost to jobs of new regulations.\n\nBut it is much easier to imagine a time when 47 other states gang up on Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to ratchet up a federal regulatory regime to the point at which it chokes and suffocates businesses and their jobs.\n\nThink it can\u2019t happen? Come and visit me in Kentucky.\n\nHow can it be that the very businesses who face this threat support the federalization of regulations? I\u2019m sure they are sincere. They want uniformity and predictability. Admirable desires. They don\u2019t want the national standard of regulations to devolve to the worst standard of regulation. (California regulators . . . We\u2019re talking about you here).\n\nAnd yet, the bill before us grandfathers in California\u2019s over-bearing regulations. It only prevents them from getting worse.\n\nBut everyone must realize, that this bill also pre-empts friendly states like Texas and Louisiana from continuing to be friendly states. As federal regulations gradually or quickly grow, Texas and Louisiana will no longer be able to veto the excesses of Washington. Regulations that never would pass the Texas or Louisiana legislature will see limited opposition in Washington.\n\nDon\u2019t believe me? Come and visit me in Kentucky!\n\nThen why in the world would businesses come to Washington and ask to be regulated?\n\nNothing perplexes me more or makes me madder than when businesses come to Washington to lobby for regulations. And unfortunately, it is becoming the norm not the exception.\n\nLately, the call to federalize regulations has become a cottage industry for companies to come to Washington and beg for federal regulations to supersede troublesome state regulations.\n\nSeems like every day businesses come to my office to complain about regulatory abuse and then come back later in the day to say, \u201cOh, and by the way, can you vote for federal regulations of my business because state regulations are killing me\u201d.\n\nBut then a few years later, the same businesses are back now complaining that the regulatory agencies are ratcheting up the regulations.\n\nFood distributors clamor for federal regulations on labeling. Restaurants advocated for menu standards. And now that we have federal menu standards, low and behold, we also have federal menu crimes. You can be imprisoned in America for posting the wrong calorie count on your menu!\n\nWith this bill, chemical companies lobby for federal regulations to pre-empt state regulations. None of them seem concerned that the federal regulations will pre-empt not only aggressive regulatory states but also market-oriented, friendly states.\n\nSo the \u201cless onerous\u201d federal regulations may initially pre-empt overly zealous regulatory states but when the federal regulations evolve into a more onerous standard there will no longer be any state laboratories left to exercise freedom.\n\nThe pro-regulation business community argues that they are being overwhelmed by costly state regulations. What can be done, short of federalizing regulations? What about charging more in states that add costly regulations?\n\nIf Vermont mandates GMO labeling, either quit selling to them or jack up the price to pay for the labeling. Do you think the socialists up there might reconsider if their Coke or Pepsi had a $2 surcharge to pay for their costly labeling?\n\nWhat could chemical companies do to fight overzealous regulatory states? What they already do, move to friendly states. If California inappropriately regulates your chemicals, charge them more and by all means move! We\u2019d love to have your business in Kentucky.\n\nWhat these businesses, who favor federalization of regulations, fail to understand is that the history of federal regulations is a dismal one. Well-intended, limited regulations morph into ill-willed, expansive and intrusive regulations.\n\nWhat these businesses fail to grasp is that while states like California and Vermont may pass burdensome, expensive regulations, other states like Texas and Tennessee and Kentucky are relative havens for business growth.\n\nWhen businesses plead for federal regulations to supersede the ill-conceived regulations of California and Vermont, they fail to understand that once regulations are centralized, the history of regulations in Washington is only to grow.\n\nJust witness regulations in banking and healthcare and the environment. Does anyone remember ever seeing a limited, reasonable federal standard that stayed limited and reasonable?\n\nIt is not new in Washington for businesses to lobby to be regulated.\n\nSome hospitals advocated for Obamacare and now complain that it is bankrupting them. Some small banks advocated for Dodd Frank regulation of big banks in Dodd Frank. Now these small banks complain that the regulators are assaulting them as well.\n\nThe bill before us gives the Administrator of the EPA the power to decide at a later date how to and to what extent he or she will regulate the chemical industry. In fact, more than 100 times the bill leaves discretionary authority to the EPA to make decisions or create new rules.\n\nAnyone want to hazard a guess as to how many pages of regulations will come from this bill? The current Code of Federal Regulations is 237 volumes and more than 178,000 pages. If Obamacare is any guide, it will be at least twenty pages of regulations for every page of legislation. Using the Obamacare standard, this bill will give us nearly 2000 more pages of regulations. Obamacare was about 1,000 pages. The regulations from Obamacare have morphed into nearly 20,000 pages so far. It is not hard to see how this bill, which requires review of the more than 85,000 chemicals now on the market, could quickly eclipse that lofty total.\n\nNo one disputes that this bill increases the power of the EPA. No one disputes that this bill transfers power from the states to the federal government.\n\nThe National Journal recognizes and describes this bill as granting extensive new authority to the EPA.\n\nIf you don\u2019t think that\u2019s a problem, come to Kentucky and meet the sixteen thousand people the current EPA put out of work. Ask them what they think of Hillary Clinton\u2019s plan to continue putting coal miners out of business. Look these coal miners in the face and tell them to trust you and your bill that increases EPA power.\n\nIs there anything in the recent history of regulatory onslaught that indicates that a reasonable federal standard will remain reasonable?\n\nNone.\n\nSo, Mr. President, I rise today to oppose granting new power to the EPA. I wish we were here today to do the opposite to vote to restrain the EPA, to make sure they balance regulation with jobs.\n\nI wish we here today to vote for the REINS Act that requires new regulations to be voted on by Congress before they become enforceable.\n\nInstead this legislation will inevitably add hundreds of new regulations.\n\nI rise today to oppose this bill because it pre-empts the Constitution\u2019s intentions for the federal government.\n\nI rise today to oppose this bill because the recent history of the EPA is one that has shown no balance, no quarter, and no concern for the thousands of Kentuckians they put out of business.\n\nI rise today to oppose this bill because I can\u2019t in good conscience as a Kentuckian vote to make the federal EPA stronger.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendment-ndaa-restore-congressional-authority-declaring-war/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendment to NDAA to Restore Congressional Authority on Declaring War", "2016-06-06", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today introduced an amendment to S.2943, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA), which finds that the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force (AUMF) do not give President Obama the authority to maintain U.S. military force in direct or indirect actions against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and that a new authorization is needed.\n\nThe full text of the amendment can be found HERE.\n\nEarlier last month, Sen. Paul also introduced six amendments to NDAA, which are expected to be considered when the Senate convenes later today. Below is the list of Sen. Paul\u2019s amendments with summaries for background information.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION\n\nAmendment No. 4072\n\nKnown as the Fort Knox Energy Security Act\n\nAllows the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to continue producing natural gas at Fort Knox in Kentucky, which ultimately would enable Fort Knox to become the only military installation capable of self-sustainment in the country.\n\nAmendment No. 4073\n\nMandates the Census Bureau count all deployed service members at the base or port in which they resided prior to deployment.\n\nBenefits thousands of U.S. service men and women by creating a consistent and logical method for counting service members deployed overseas in the U.S. Census at their residence at their last duty station.\n\nThis legislation will have no effect on a service member\u2019s tax, residence, or voting status; it will only affect counting for census purposes.\n\nAmendment No. 4074\n\nRepeals the Military Selective Service Act and end the military draft in the U.S.\n\nAmendment No. 4075\n\nKnown as the Service Members Self Defense Act\n\nAmend permit members of the armed forces to possess firearms on military installations in accordance with applicable state and local law.\n\nClarifies the carrying of a concealed weapon by a member of the armed forces, on DOD property, is not a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice or 18 USC 930 \u2013 Possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in federal facilities.\n\nAllowing for the carrying of a concealed weapon by qualified members of the armed forces, with national reciprocity, in accordance with state and local law.\n\nAmendment No. 4076\n\nKnown as the Transparency for the Families of 9/11 Victims and Survivors Act\n\nRequires President Obama to declassify and make available to the public the redacted 28 pages from the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001.\n\nAmendment No. 4077\n\nKnown as the Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act\n\nProvides protection for gun owners by ensuring due process rights are upheld in the event an individual\u2019s eligibility is questioned and reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).\n\nWithin 90 days, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must review and remove from NICS any veteran that has not been adjudicated as mentally incompetent. The Attorney General will certify that the removal of names has taken place.\n\nPrevents the Social Security Administrator from reporting individuals to NICS unless individual has been adjudicated as mentally incompetent. Attorney General will conduct a yearly review to certify reported names have necessary documentation.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-247-million-usaid-project-aimed-inform-philippines-climate-change/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $24.7 Million USAID Project Aimed to Inform the Philippines on Climate Change", "2016-06-06", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul uncovers plans for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to invest as much as $24.7 million on a project to help the country of the Philippines adapt to climate change.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nFollowers of The Waste Report will remember the National Science Foundation\u2019s (NSF) funding for a futuristic climate change video game focused on the impact of Florida communities of sea-level rise. The justification for the game was that high school students, when presented with the catastrophic climate change narrative, were not particularly motivated to act. Well it turns out Uncle Sam wants to act, not in Florida, but in the Philippines.\n\nThat\u2019s right!!! The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to invest as much as $24.7 million as part of the \u201cClimate Ready\u201d project to help the Philippines adapt to rising sea-levels and extreme weather caused by climate change.[1] Individual awards are limited to $2 million, so we\u2019ll probably see about 12 different projects across the Philippines.\n\nSo what will these projects look like? Turns out we do not know. USAID\u2019s solicitation is an RFP (Request for Proposals) for cost-plus contracts. RFP\u2019s are used at all levels of government to solicit detailed plans of how to achieve stated objectives and working within established constraints. For example, if your local town wanted to build a park on an abandoned lot, an RFP might give general parameters of what kind of park \u2013 recreational or passive \u2013 and what features are desired and what are not, etc. Kind of a, \u201cgiven these parameters, what would you do?\u201d\n\nHowever, where this RFP would normally delineate such parameters, it simply states, \u201cthe Contractor\u2019s Performance Work Statement, based on the content of this RFP, will be inserted at the time of award.\u201d[2] In other words, submit any idea to prepare the Philippines for climate change, and if it is accepted, that idea will be the standard we hold that idea to.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senators-paul-hatch-and-markey-call-hhs-follow-senate-lead-increasing-access-opioid-addiction/", "Senators Paul, Hatch, and Markey Call on HHS to Follow Senate Lead in Increasing Access to Opioid Addiction Treatment", "2016-06-01", "2016", "2016-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Senators lead bipartisan group of 22 Senators in calling on the Department to raise the cap on prescribing buprenorphine to 500 patients\n\nToday, Senators Paul (R-KY), Hatch (R-UT), and Markey (D-MA) led a bipartisan group of 22 Senators in writing to Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to call on HHS to allow for greater access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) in the Department\u2019s proposed rule on the topic published on March 30, 2016.\n\nThe proposed rule on MAT would increase the highest limit on the number of patients waivered practitioners can treat with buprenorphine from 100 patients per practitioner to 200 patients. However, in recognition of the huge disparity that exists between those who can prescribe opioids for treatment of pain and those who can prescribe treatments for opioid use disorders, and the large gap between those with opioid use disorders and those recieve treatment for their illness, the Senate is advancing legislation that would raise this patient cap to 500 patients. The letter sent by the group of Senators today urges HHS to take into account the bipartisan work done by the Senate on this legislation, S. 1455, the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT) Act, when finalizing their proposed rule.\n\n\u201cHeroin addiction is on the rise in Kentucky and throughout the country, and government\u2019s solution of locking up people with addiction is not solving the problem. Getting people the help they need to break the cycle of addition and on a path to recovery is extremely important,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad the Department is taking action to expand access to medication assisted treatment under the authority Congress provided through the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000,\u201d said Senator Hatch. \u201cHowever, if we are going to provide patients with the treatments they need to succeed in their battle against heroin and prescription drug abuse, we must open greater access to medication assisted treatment by setting a more appropriate cap on the number of patients to whom an eligible physician can prescribe buprenorphine.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t restrict doctors from prescribing life-saving medication for any other medical condition, so it makes no sense to limit medication-assisted therapies for those suffering from the disease of opioid addiction\u201d, said Senator Markey. \u201cThe current artificial caps on treatment not only hurt access, but they also reinforce the stigma that accessing treatment for substance use disorders should be different than for any other chronic illness. I thank the Obama administration for responding to my call to act administratively to address limitations on medication-assisted therapies for opioid addiction, but we must ensure that the final rule addresses this outdated federal restriction in a manner reflects the immense crisis we are currently facing.\u201d\n\nThe letter to HHS is also signed by Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).\n\nIn August 2015, Senators Hatch and Markey led a group of 13 Senators in urging HHS to use the authority granted to the Department under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 to raise the buprenorphine patient cap. In April 2016, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the TREAT Act, which was introduced by Senators Markey and Paul and cosponsored by Senator Hatch at the HELP Committee markup of the legislation. In addition to raising the maximum cap for physicians from 100 to 500 patients, the TREAT Act also authorizes nurse practitioners and physicians assistants to provide medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorders in accordance with state law.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:54:04Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-14-million-wasteful-epa-early-retirement-buyout-employees/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $1.4 Million Wasteful EPA Early Retirement Buyout for Employees", "2016-05-31", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul uncovers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spending nearly $12 million on early retirements buyouts for roughly 500 employees to allegedly modernize their workforce. However, of the 500 vacated positions, 12% were not eliminated and refilled without being changed \u2013 costing the taxpayers $1.4 million.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nSomewhere along the line you have probably heard of early retirement buyouts, where a company offers employees a sum of cash and an early retirement. Often used as an alternative to layoffs, the idea is to get more senior, and thus more expensive, employees off the payroll and then eliminate or restructure their jobs to be less costly. A good deal all around\u2026that is unless you are a taxpayer and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering early buyouts.\n\nAccording to the EPA Inspector General, in the Fiscal Year 2014, the EPA paid out nearly $12 million on early buyouts for roughly 500 employees. However, a sampling done by the Inspector General showed that roughly 12% of the vacated positions were not eliminated and were refilled without being changed.[1] If this is a representative sample of all EPA buyout, the taxpayer would have unnecessarily spent $1.4 million.\n\nIn authorizing agencies to offer early buyouts, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) expressly says the position being vacated must either be eliminated or modified:\n\n(1) having a different job series and/or grade, (2) using the same job series and grade but substantively different duties and responsibilities, (3) having a different full-performance level, or (4) that is no longer supervisory.\u201d[2]\n\nThat\u2019s not a really high bar, and since the whole point of buyouts is to streamline the workforce, what got missed? Even the EPA agreed with the finding saying, \u201cwe understand how the IG drew their conclusion.\u201d[3] They noted the new hires were budget neutral, meaning they did not cost any more than the people they replaced, but the taxpayer is still out the buyout money.\n\nIt is not surprising the EPA looked to early buyouts to modernize their workforce and hopefully save the taxpayer in the process. The federal government is notorious for its job security; many believe to a fault. Less than one half of one percent of federal employees were terminated for performance or laid off last year. The EPA is even worse, only 15 employees or one tenth of one percent were terminated for performance; that is slightly more than the 13 EPA employees who died last year.[4]\n\nThey say you have to spend money to make money. Apparently at the EPA, you just have to spend money.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-paul-refuses-support-rushed-legislation/", "Sen. Paul Refuses to Support Rushed Legislation", "2016-05-26", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Demands Sufficient Time to Read The Bill\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Sen. Rand Paul today stood on the Senate floor and objected to the unanimous consent request passage of H.R. 2576. Senator Rand Paul believes lawmakers should read legislation before voting on it. This legislation today was being unnecessarily rushed without an opportunity for review.\n\n\u201cI promised the people of Kentucky that I would read every bill before voting for or against it. I couldn\u2019t in good conscience today support this significant piece of legislation without being given an opportunity to examine it closely\u201d said Senator Paul.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-homeland-security-government-affairs-committee-passes-sen-pauls-bonuses-cost-cutters-act/", "Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee Passes Sen. Paul\u2019s Bonuses for Cost Cutters Act", "2016-05-25", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C \u2013 Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, a bill with bipartisan support, that encourages federal agencies to return unneeded funds to the taxpayer through bonus incentives. The bill was passed in committee with an affirmative 12-5 vote.\n\nCurrent law allows an agency\u2019s inspector general to pay bonuses up to $10,000 of savings realized when a federal employee identifies waste, fraud or mismanagement of funds. Senator Paul\u2019s legislation would further incentivize ending wasteful government spending by allowing employees to qualify for these bonuses if they identify unneeded or surplus funds.\n\nAdditionally, this legislation would ensure that 90% of the savings be automatically directed towards deficit reduction.\n\n\u201cI am pleased that my legislation has received bipartisan support and is on its way to full passage in the U.S. Senate,\u201d Sen. Paul said. \u201cMy bill will incentivize government employees to find, report and eliminate government waste, fraud and abuse throughout our bloated federal government.\u201d\n\nFederal employees are on the front lines of federal spending. Rewarding those employees for saving taxpayer money will create a personal incentive to counter the current end-of-year rush to exhaust all available funds. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, \u201cSpending in the last week of the year is 4.9 times higher then the rest-of-the-year weekly average.\u201d\n\nThe full language of this legislation is available HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendment-ndaa-requiring-census-bureau-count-all-service-members/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendment to NDAA Requiring Census Bureau to Count All Service Members", "2016-05-25", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "S. Amdt. #4073 Service Members and Communities Count Act\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The legislation would mandate the Census Bureau to count all deployed service members at the base or port in which they resided prior to deployment.\n\nIn tabulating the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau counted service members deployed for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, at their home of record \u2013 an address given at the time of enlistment.\n\nUnfortunately, such a method is not sufficient and disenfranchises many of our service members. In reports following the 2010 Census, the bureau stated, \u201conly 59 percent of the 2010 Department of Defense records contained a home of record.\u201d The use of home of record, provides an inaccurate accounting of populations residing in communities surrounding U.S. military bases.\n\nAmendment No. 4073 benefits thousands of U.S. service men and women by creating a consistent and logical method for counting service members deployed overseas in the U.S. Census at their residence at their last duty station.\n\n\u201cI believe that every deployed service member has a right to be counted by their government when a census is conducted,\u201d Sen. Paul said. \u201cThe passage of this amendment will ensures that those who have given so much for our country will be recognized in the communities they live in.\u201d\n\nThis legislation will have no effect on a service member\u2019s tax, residence, or voting status; it will only affect counting for census purposes.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-18-billion-wasteful-spending-through-weekly-waste-reports/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $1.8 Billion in Wasteful Spending Through Weekly Waste Reports", "2016-05-24", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul this week highlights 52 weeks of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nOver the last year alone, the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) under Sen. Paul\u2019s leadership has uncovered over $1.8 billion in wasteful spending on frivolous projects. This level of spending, which equates to nearly $35 million per week, matches the tax liability of approximately 250,000 average American taxpayers.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE.\n\nThe most recent edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 focused upon the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii. The center, established in 1960, receives millions in federal funding each year to promote diplomacy with Asian and Pacific islands nations. These nations include China and Japan, two of our nation\u2019s two largest foreign creditors already, from which our government has borrowed $3.4 trillion to cover our annual deficit.\n\nOther examples of wasteful government spending uncovered through \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 include $8 million spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase solar panels that were never used and $28 million spent on heavy equipment lost by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan.\n\nTo put this in perspective, 250,000 is roughly the number of people living in Durham, NC or Irvine, CA and just below the number of Americans living in Louisville, KY.\n\nIn addition to the $1.8 billion spent on the wasteful projects highlighted in \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 the March 7th edition of the report stressed the long-term fiscal dangers posed by the ever-growing national debt.\n\nThis year the federal government spent $255 billion for interest on our debt, meaning that every American owes about $800 this year to pay for interest alone. If you consider only those who pay their taxes, this figure rises to $2,700 per taxpayer.\n\nEach week, \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 will continue to release examples of wasteful government spending to show taxpayers where their money is going.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendment-ndaa-allowing-continuation-natural-gas-production-fort-knox/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendment to NDAA Allowing Continuation of Natural Gas Production at Fort Knox", "2016-05-24", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The legislation would specifically allow the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to continue producing natural gas at Fort Knox in Kentucky, which ultimately would enable Fort Knox to become the only military installation capable of self-sustainment in the country.\n\nFor the past 20 years, Fort Knox has become the first military installation to provide their own power, heat, gas, water, and wastewater elimination all from on-post resources. In May 2015, Fort Knox successfully demonstrated their ability to fully operate without outside assistance.\n\nThis self-sufficiency has resulted in nearly $8 million in annual savings. However, if authority is not given, the investments Fort Knox has made to become self-sustainable will cease and energy costs for the DOD will increase.\n\n\u201cFort Knox is leading the way in cost-effectiveness and ingenuity when it comes to natural gas development and sustainability. While the Department of Interior is usually responsible for the development of federal lands, this amendment would codify an exception for already successfully developed facilities which benefit Fort Knox and the surrounding communities.\u201d\n\nSen. Paul said.\n\nNo related posts.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-unanimously-passes-sen-rand-pauls-amendment-designate-interstate-i-169-western-kentucky/", "Senate Unanimously Passes Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Amendment to Designate Interstate I-169 in Western Kentucky to the Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill", "2016-05-19", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Last night, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senator Rand Paul\u2019s amendment to H.R. 2577, the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The amendment will designate the southern portion Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as Interstate 169, which as a result will increase economic development and opportunities for thousands of Kentuckians.\n\nThe Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill itself, with the inclusion of Sen. Paul\u2019s amendment, passed the Senate earlier this afternoon with a vote of 89-8.\n\n\u201cMany of our nation\u2019s roads and bridges are in deep need of repairs and replacement. I have always made a point to fight against international infrastructure spending and instead to refocus on our needs here in Kentucky. My amendment will designate the southern portion of Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as Interstate 169, which as a result will increase economic development and opportunities for thousands of Kentuckians,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nThe amendment has gained support throughout Western Kentucky, including Mayor Carter Hendricks of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.\n\n\u201cWe are excited that Senator Paul has led the initiative to help achieve interstate designation for the southern section of the Pennyrile Parkway. For many years, our community leadership has advocated for this very project and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition and to reaping the economic benefits of interstate status for our Parkway,\u201d Mayor Carter Hendricks said.\n\nSen. Paul also introduced an amendment to the Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill, which would increase funding for highway projects by approximately $8 billion by reclaiming unspent foreign aid from last year.\n\nTop-line bullet points and background information on the passed amendment can be found below, and the text can be found HERE.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON SEN. PAUL\u2019S AMENDMENTS TO TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING APPROPRIATIONS BILL\n\nDesignates the Southern Section of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as Interstate 169\n\nThe I-69 development project is an important multi-state interstate development project that will be incorporated into the National Freight Corridor system. In November 2015, the Federal Highway Administration designating the northern 40-mile segment of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as 169, increasing economic opportunities for thousands of Kentuckians in the region.\n\nThe amendment would designate the remaining 34-miles, from Nortonville, Kentucky, south to the Interstate 24 connection, as Interstate 169.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-wyden-and-bipartisan-senators-call-congress-stop-massive-expansion-government/", "Sens. Paul, Wyden and Bipartisan Senators Call on Congress to Stop Massive Expansion of Government Surveillance and Hacking Power", "2016-05-19", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Stopping Mass Hacking Act Reverses Disastrous Changes to Warrant Procedures; Congress Must Act or Government Will Be Able to Hack Millions of Americans\u2019 Devices with a Single Warrant, Compromising Security and Privacy\n\nWashington, D.C.- U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., today introduced the Stopping Mass Hacking (SMH) Act to protect millions of law-abiding Americans from government hacking. The Stopping Mass Hacking (SMH) Act prevents recently approved changes to Rule 41 from going into effect. The changes would allow the government to get a single warrant to hack an unlimited number of Americans\u2019 computers if their computers had been affected by criminals, possibly without notifying the victims.\n\nSens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., are original co-sponsors of the Senate bill.\n\n\u201cThis is a dramatic expansion of the government\u2019s hacking and surveillance authority. Such a substantive change with an enormous impact on Americans\u2019 constitutional rights should be debated by Congress, not maneuvered through an obscure bureaucratic process,\u201d said Sen. Wyden. \u201cUnless Congress acts before December 1, Americans\u2019 security and privacy will be thrown out the window and hacking victims will find themselves hacked again \u2013 this time by their own government.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Fourth Amendment wisely rejected general warrants and requires individualized suspicion before the government can forcibly search private information. I fear this rule change will make it easier for the government to search innocent Americans\u2019 computers and undermine the requirement for individual suspicion,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cCongress must act to prevent this threat to the privacy of law abiding Americans and ensure a rule change of this magnitude has the proper oversight.\u201d said Sen. Baldwin. \u201cI am proud to join this bipartisan effort. We need to stand up to this government intrusion and protect American civil liberties and freedoms.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur law enforcement policies need to be updated to reflect 21st century realities with a process that is transparent, effective and protects our civil liberties,\u201d said Sen. Daines.\n\n\u201cThis bill reins in the government\u2019s ability to search and seize our personal electronic information. Our right to privacy doesn\u2019t end when we turn on a computer, send an email, or search the Internet,\u201d said Sen. Tester. \u201cWe must ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to keep us safe while also protecting our civil liberties, and this bill is a first step in that direction.\u201d\n\nA House companion bill is expected to be introduced soon.\n\nAt the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ) the U.S. Federal Courts recommended an administrative change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which were approved by the Supreme Court last month.\n\nThe amendments to Rule 41 would make it easier for DOJ to obtain warrants for remote electronic searches. The amendments would allow a single judge to issue a single warrant authorizing government hacking of an untold number of devices located anywhere in the world. The amendments would take effect on December 1, 2016 absent Congressional action.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendments-transportation-and-housing-appropriations-bill/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendments to Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill", "2016-05-17", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today introduced the following amendments to H.R. 2577, the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill currently being considered by the Senate. The first amendment will designate the southern section of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway in Kentucky as Interstate 169, and the second amendment will prohibit the use of funds to regulate the acquisition, use, transfer, or disposal of certain airport property.\n\nLater this afternoon, Sen. Paul will introduce an additional amendment, which will take back unspent money designated for foreign assistance and transfer those funds to be spent on roads and bridges in the United States.\n\nTop-line bullet points and background information on the introduced amendments can be found below, and the text can be found HERE and HERE.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON SEN. PAUL\u2019S AMENDMENTS TO TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING APPROPRIATIONS BILL\n\nProhibits the Use of Funds to Regulate the Acquisition, Use, Transfer, or Disposal of Certain Airport Property\n\nStates and localities have access to many sources of financing in order to make improvements to their local airports. With the abundant restrictions and regulations that come with acceptance and use of Federal funding, many communities are using these financing options. Despite the lack of use of Federal funding, the Federal Aviation Administration has continued to place restrictions on airport projects until environmental impact analysis are conducted.\n\nThe amendment prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration to regulate the acquisition, use, transfer, or disposal of property that is not purchased with Federal funding, so long as the action doesn\u2019t impact safety or efficiency of aircraft operations.\n\nDesignates the Southern Section of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as Interstate 169\n\nThe I-69 development project is an important multi-state interstate development project that will be incorporated into the National Freight Corridor system. In November 2015, the Federal Highway Administration designating the northern 40-mile segment of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway as 169, increasing economic opportunities for thousands of Kentuckians in the region.\n\nThe amendment would designate the remaining 34-miles, from Nortonville, Kentucky, south to the Interstate 24 connection, as Interstate 169.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-millions-taxpayer-dollars-spent-promote-diplomacy-us-largest-foreign/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Spent to Promote Diplomacy with U.S.\u2019 Largest Foreign Creditors", "2016-05-16", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government. In the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul draws attention to the federal government spending millions of dollars every year to fund a center, known as the East-West Center, at the University of Hawaii to promote diplomacy with the Asian and Pacific island nations. These nations include China and Japan, our nation\u2019s two largest foreign creditors, from which our government has borrowed $3.4 trillions to cover our annual deficit.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nOver time \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 has told you various international follies aimed at building good will around the world. Who could forget such things as sending jazz bands to Turkey, Pakistani kids to Space Camp, or fostering better understanding with the UK. But did you know Uncle Sam spends millions of dollars supporting a center at the University of Hawaii[1] to promote better relations with Asian and Pacific island nations?\n\nThe East-West (E-W) Center, as it is known, was created by Congress in 1960 to \u201cbetter relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific.\u201d[2] Of course in 1960, Hawaii had just become a state, the U.S. was on the cusp of its third war in the Pacific since 1941, we weren\u2019t even talking to mainland China, no one had the internet, and international travel was rare. No one drove a Kia or wore Nikes, which have always been produced in Asia, and Ninja Warrior wasn\u2019t even a thing. In the last five decades it\u2019s safe to say things have changed a little.\n\nIn addition to trade and media, today, China and Japan are our two largest foreign creditors. While the U.S. is borrowing money from China, Japan, and other Asian nations (about $3.4 Trillion[3]), over 600 of those countries\u2019 citizens are attending the E-W Center the U.S. taxpayer is funding.[4] In fact, according to the one paragraph on finances from the E-W Center\u2019s FY 2014 annual report, which is the most recent and is little more than an 8-page pamphlet, the center received about $21 million in federal support, roughly 2/3rds of its entire budget.[5]\n\nSo what does fostering understanding on your dime look like? Well in addition to conferences and events, the E-W Center funds research fellowships and scholarships with, \u201cSubstantial funding toward education and living expenses, including tuition and fees, graduate residence hall room costs, health insurance, book allowance, and partial living stipend.\u201d[6] This year they are also putting on a 12-day U.S. Presidential Election Reporting Seminar with aim to, \u201cenable participating journalists to report before, during and after the U.S. presidential election from key states in the American electoral system.\u201d Of course they will have to put what they learn to use in 2020 as the seminar conflicts with the actual election this year.\n\nWhat is most amazing about the E-W Center is that in the FY 2010 budget, President Obama, whose mother was actually an E-W Center student while he was growing up[7], tried to cut the center\u2019s funding in half, \u201carguing that this would encourage the center to seek other sources for money.\u201d Instead, the then Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Inouye from Hawaii increased funding to his home-state project by $2 million.[8] Year-after-year, including this year, the President\u2019s budget unsuccessfully proposes the same thing, roughly cutting funding in half for the center. At least in this instance Congressional pork is mightier than even the President. Reminds us of Ronald Reagan\u2019s famous quote, \u201cThe nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-requests-response-office-surface-mining-proposed-stream-protection-rule/", "Sen. Rand Paul Requests Response from Office of Surface Mining on Proposed Stream Protection Rule", "2016-05-13", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today sent a letter to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) Director Joseph Pizarchik regarding their continued lack of response to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet on the proposed Stream Protection Rule (SPR). In the letter, Sen. Paul requests that OSM fully comply with the Omnibus Appropriations Report language by providing Kentucky with all of the necessary documents, including all drafts relative to the draft and final environmental impact statements that were called for in the report language.\n\nAs of today, Kentucky has not received a response from OSM to Kentucky\u2019s Secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet Charles Snavely\u2019s February 8th letter requesting a list of all technical reports, data, analyses, comments received, and drafts related to the environmental reviews, and draft and final environmental impact statements related to the proposed SPR rule. This request was sent three months ago, and it is concerning that the request has not been fulfilled or even acknowledged by OSM.\n\nIn the letter, Sen. Paul asks that OSM send these materials on or before May 27, 2016, so the Cabinet will have the necessary time to review them before requesting a meeting with OSM prior to SPR finalization. In addition to sending the required documents, Sen. Paul asks that OSM indicate when it plans to reopen the public comment period for the proposed SPR and its associated draft and final environmental impact statements and regulatory impact analyses after having provided meaningful consultation with Kentucky\u2019s Energy and Environment Cabinet, and provide that information to his office.\n\nThis proposed rule is going to have a major impact on Kentucky and the coal mining industry, and in order to responsibly draft a final rule, OSM will need to consider Kentucky\u2019s state-specific concerns.\n\nThe text of both letters can be found below. A copy of the letter to the Department of the Interior can be found HERE, and a copy of the letter to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement can be found HERE.\n\nLETTER TEXT:\n\nMay 13, 2016\n\nThe Honorable Sally Jewell\n\nSecretary, Department of the Interior\n\n1849 C Street, NW\n\nWashington, DC 20240\n\nDear Secretary Jewell:\n\nI have enclosed a copy of a letter I sent to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) Director Joseph Pizarchik so you are aware of my request to OSM and its continued lack of response to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet regarding the proposed Stream Protection Rule (SPR).\n\nAs noted in the letter, I respectfully request OSM fully comply with the Omnibus Appropriations Report language by providing Kentucky with all documents, including all drafts relative to the draft and final environmental impact statements, called for in the report language. I ask that OSM send these materials on or before May 27, 2016. The Cabinet will need to receive these documents and have the necessary time to review them before requesting a meeting with OSM prior to SPR finalization. In addition to sending the required documents, I ask that OSM indicate when it plans to reopen the public comment period for the proposed SPR and its associated draft and final environmental impact statements and regulatory impact analyses after having provided meaningful consultation with Kentucky\u2019s Energy and Environment Cabinet. I also request any information OSM sends to Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Charles Snavely also be sent to my office.\n\nThank you for any assistance you can provide on this matter, and I look forward to OSM engaging with Kentucky and other states in a meaningful manner on the proposed SPR.\n\nSincerely,\n\nSenator Rand Paul\n\nEnclosure: Letter to Director Pizarchik\n\nMay 13, 2016\n\nThe Honorable Joseph G. Pizarchik\n\nDirector, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement\n\n1951 Constitution Avenue, NW\n\nWashington, DC 20240\n\nDear Director Pizarchik:\n\nI am writing in support of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet\u2019s letter dated April 5, 2016, regarding the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement\u2019s (OSM) refusal to comply with report language accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-113). The language requires OSM to reengage with states in a meaningful way before finalizing the Stream Protection Rule (SPR) by providing the states with certain documents related to the rule and meeting with any state upon the request of the state. (161 Cong. Rec. H10217 (Dec. 17, 2015)).\n\nRegarding the documents, Kentucky\u2019s Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Charles Snavely noted in his April 5th letter that Kentucky has not received any response from OSM to Secretary Snavely\u2019s February 8th letter requesting a list of all technical reports, data, analyses, comments received, and drafts related to the environmental reviews, and draft and final environmental impact statements related to the proposed SPR rule. I am incredibly concerned that this request was sent three months ago and, at the time of writing this letter, the request has not been fulfilled or even acknowledged by OSM. This proposed rule is going to have a major impact on Kentucky and our coal mining industry, and I expect that to responsibly draft a final rule, OSM will need to consider Kentucky\u2019s state-specific concerns. Unfortunately, Kentucky cannot provide that feedback until OSM provides Kentucky with the information Secretary Snavely requested of OSM.\n\nAdditionally, regarding the meeting, while I appreciate OSM\u2019s offer to meet with states during the Interstate Mining Compact Commission\u2019s annual meeting and regional meetings in April, the Kentucky representatives could not attend the annual meeting over 800 miles away in Lake Placid, NY. The regional meeting in Pittsburgh was a better alternative, but a six-hour meeting for the purpose of addressing all the state-specific concerns of all the attendees from a number of different states is not satisfactory for the purposes of the requirement in the report language, which states that OSM must meet with states individually at the request of the state.\n\nI respectfully request OSM fully comply with the Omnibus Appropriations Report language by providing Kentucky with all documents, including all drafts relative to the draft and final environmental impact statements, called for in the report language. I ask that OSM send these materials on or before May 27, 2016. The Cabinet will need to receive these documents and have the necessary time to review them before requesting a meeting with OSM prior to SPR finalization. In addition to sending the required documents, please indicate when OSM plans to reopen the public comment period for the proposed SPR and its associated draft and final environmental impact statements and regulatory impact analyses after having provided meaningful consultation with Kentucky\u2019s Energy and Environment Cabinet. I also request that any information OSM sends to Secretary Snavely, that OSM also send a copy to my office at 167 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510.\n\nI look forward to OSM engaging with Kentucky and other states in a meaningful manner on the proposed SPR.\n\nSincerely,\n\nSenator Rand Paul\n\nCC: Secretary Sally Jewell\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-resolution-commending-sigar-providing-accountability-taxpayer-dollars/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Resolution Commending SIGAR for Providing Accountability for Taxpayer Dollars", "2016-05-12", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced a resolution in the Senate today commending the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) for providing accountability for taxpayer dollars spent in Afghanistan.\n\nIn the resolution, Sen. Paul also urges all inspectors general to look to the SIGAR as an example of the vigor and independence the Senate expects of persons given the responsibility to conduct agency oversight. Since the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction\u2019s creation in 2008, the office\u2019s recommendations has resulted in more than $1,000,000,000 in potential taxpayer savings.\n\n\u201cI commend the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction today for being a strong voice and a good steward of taxpayer dollars, as well as urge all inspectors general to look to the SIGAR as an example of the Senate\u2019s expectations of your duty to this country, and not as an exception to the rule,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nTo read the resolution in it entirety, click HERE.\n\nEarlier this year in January, Sen. Paul released a special edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which highlighted the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction\u2019s report on the U.S. Department of Defense losing $29 million of heavy equipment in Afghanistan. Click HERE to read the special edition of \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-questions-former-obama-administrations-official-and-advisor-foreign-relation/", "Sen. Rand Paul Questions Former Obama Administration\u2019s Official and Advisor at Foreign Relation Committee Hearing on America\u2019s Military Role in the World", "2016-05-12", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today attended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to question former Secretary of State James Baker and former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on our nation\u2019s current role in the world and our priorities for future global engagement. During the hearing, Sen. Paul emphasized the need for the President to always seek congressional approval before engaging in any type of armed conflicts or wars, as well as come before Congress with an exit strategy prior to any combat operations. Additionally, Sen. Paul questioned former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on President Obama\u2019s failed foreign policy in Libya.\n\nA video of the exchange can be found below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL REMARKS AT SFRC HEARING\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-70000-nsf-study-investigating-gender-wikipedias-contributors/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $70,000 NSF Study Investigating the Gender of Wikipedia\u2019s Contributors", "2016-05-10", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul uncovers the National Science Foundation (NSF) spending $70,000 taxpayer dollars to fund a New York University study investigating the gender gap among contributors to the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nHave a question? Often Wikipedia has an answer. But if your question is, \u201cWhy is the federal government spending $70k to study gender disparity among Wikipedia contributors,\u201d you might get back, \u201cresults not found: did you mean \u2018government waste?'\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s right! The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $70,000 funding a New York University study to investigate the gender gap among contributors to Wikipedia. If you are not familiar, Wikipedia is a free on-line encyclopedia where, \u201c[a]nyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles.\u201d\n\nAccording to Wikipedia, it is true that only about 13 percent of their regular contributors are female. However, there is no measurement for how much content female Wikipedians contribute or provide.\n\nWhat is clear is that whether male or female, a small minority of users provide any content to Wikipedia; just 25 percent ever make an edits/contributions and 0.004 percent of users are classified as regular contributors \u2013 which still only requires one edit every 30 days. Nonetheless, all users can edit content if they so choose, meaning this is an issue of self-selection.\n\nEven under tighter budgets, NSF has seen a 22 percent increase in funding since President Obama took office. This year\u2019s budget asks for nearly $8 billion to support this agency, stating:\n\nNSF is vital because we invest in basic research and people who make the discoveries that transform our future. Those discoveries are a primary driver of the U.S. economy, enhance our Nation\u2019s security, and give the country the competitive edge to remain a global leader.\n\nOne has to wonder where the study of gender disparity among Wikipedia contributors fits in.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-1-million-taxpayer-funded-variety-show-afghanistan/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $1 Million Taxpayer Funded Variety Show in Afghanistan", "2016-05-02", "2016", "2016-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nSen. Paul highlights, in the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 the Department of State spending $1 million taxpayer money to produce 12 episodes of a variety show in Afghanistan. The Department of State claims the main purpose will be to teach English, however, the variety show will still be primarily written and performed using Dari, Afghanistan\u2019s primary language.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nWhole generations of Americans have fond memories of tuning in to the Ed Sullivan Show or the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Others might identify more with the late-night derivation of the variety show embodied by Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and Conan O\u2019Brian. Now Uncle Sam is hoping a new generation will fall in love with the variety show\u2026in Afghanistan.\n\nThat\u2019s right!!! The Department of State, through the U.S. Embassy-Kabul, recently issued a $1 million funding opportunity to produce 12 episodes of a variety show in Afghanistan with the ultimate purpose of teaching English.[1]\n\nOf course the show will be filmed before a live studio audience and include performances in English. But, \u201c[t]he show should be written and performed using Dari (Persian) as the primary language. Episodes will have a considerable amount of English, but primary communication and explanation should be in Dari.\u201d\n\nSo, since the show is mostly in the native language, to reinforce English learning there will be 60-second cutaways with English lessons on such things as how to read a menu or make a contraction.\n\nTaking a page from American late-night, the show will also include an \u201con-the-street element were people practice their English.\u201d Kind of a Jaywalking, Kabul edition; maybe they will ask Afghanis what they think about The Waste Report or if anyone has used the $43 million gas station Uncle Sam paid for.\n\nBut perhaps the most intriguing element of the show is borrowed from another genre of American TV, the game-show. In fact, the grant opportunity is very explicit that the show should include a competition element and notes exactly what should go into these games. Competition, \u201cshould involve games played in a team. The team can be two members of our target demographic (15- 25), or one member of the public playing with a local celebrity.\u201d Local celebrities? Perhaps an all-star from the U.S. taxpayer funded cricket league?\n\nWhile English learning is the primary objective, the Department of State hopes the show will expand its message to other topics. They recommend the competition portion focus on specific themes such as, \u201cenvironmental preservation, access to education, or volunteerism\u2026\u201d We recommend a theme of not wasting taxpayer\u2019s money.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:51:40Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-27-billion-duplicative-climate-research/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers $2.7 Billion in Duplicative Climate Research", "2016-04-25", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nAs Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO), Sen. Paul in the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 uncovers thirteen federal agencies spending over $2.7 billion taxpayer dollars to individually research the same issue \u2013 climate change. The report goes on to point out that the federal government expended an additional $18 billion to study efforts to mitigate climate change.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nEarlier this month the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its sixth report on government duplication and fragmentation. Most can agree that doing the same thing twice \u2013 or 200 times as is the case for federal Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education programs \u2013 leads to waste.[1] But one area that seems to have missed the duplication monitors at GAO is climate change research.[2]\n\nThe FSO Subcommittee did not have to dig too hard to find that there are at least thirteen federal agencies spending over $2.7 billion to research global climate change; it is all laid out neatly in a 2013 White House report.[3] Let\u2019s be clear, this is just for research on what some call settled science, and that figure does not include the over $18 billion in additional money going to efforts to mitigate climate change.\n\nOne would think this kind of research would be limited to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA \u2013 of which the National Weather Service is a component), as they are the agency, charged with studying weather and the atmosphere. As it turns out, at over $360 million, NOAA is not even the largest researcher of climate change in the federal government. That title goes to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which spent a whopping $1.5 billion. Wonder why we haven\u2019t gone back to the moon? Perhaps an argument could be made for one of these agencies to do this research, but both? And what of the other eleven?\n\nWell the National Science Foundation chips in $326 million, while the Department of Energy (DOE) spends $220 million. In fact, just last month DOE was accepting applications for a $5.5 million grant for \u201cclimate model development and validation.\u201d[4] One would think perhaps they could just use data, research, and models from NOAA or NASA\u2019s instead of reinventing the wheel in-house.\n\nEven more shocking is the Federal Highway Administration, the agency in charge of building and maintaining our crumbling roads, is chipping in on climate research. We do not know the exact amount because it is less than $500,000, but we do know it is something.\n\nOther climate research contributors include: the Smithsonian ($8 million), U.S. Agency for International Development ($14 million), the Department of State ($3 million), Health and Human Services ($15 million), the EPA ($20 million), and the U.S. Department of the Interior ($72 million).\n\nNo matter where you fall in the climate debate, one thing everyone should be able to agree on is paying 13 different agencies to do the same thing is pretty darn wasteful.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-floor-speech-sen-rand-paul-urges-colleagues-vote-economic-freedom-zones-amendment-energy-bill/", "FLOOR SPEECH: Sen. Rand Paul Urges Colleagues to Vote for \u201cEconomic Freedom Zones\u201d Amendment to Energy Bill", "2016-04-19", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Biggest Anti-Poverty Initiative Since the War on Poverty if Passed\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On the U.S. Senate floor today, Senator Rand Paul delivered the following remarks urging his colleagues to support his amendment, known as the Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2015 (S.790), to H.R. 2028, the Energy Policy Modernization Act.\n\nThe legislation will establish free market enterprise zones and dramatically reduce taxes in order to help facilitate the creation of new jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, enhance and renew educational opportunities and increase community involvement in bankrupt or economically distressed areas. These zones will apply to any zip code with unemployment greater than one and a half times the national average. Sen. Paul originally introduced the legislation for the 114th Congress in March 2015.\n\nA transcript of Sen. Paul\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery and video of his floor speech are available below.\n\nAdditionally, top-line bullet points and background information on the Economic Freedom Zones Act can be found HERE.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Paul: I rise today to introduce the largest, most sweeping anti-poverty legislation since President Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s war on poverty began. This legislation will provide over $100 billion to communities devastated by chronic poverty.\n\nCommunities like Eastern Kentucky that have been devastated by the President\u2019s War on Coal would be rescued. Communities where the water is unsafe to drink like Flint, Michigan, would be restored. Communities like Ferguson, the Southside of Chicago, and the West End of Louisville, will be given a chance to find the American Dream if this legislation is passed.\n\nMy legislation is not a gift or a grant. My legislation simply allows over a $100 billion to remain in the hands of those who earned it. My legislation will provide the incentive for businesses and capital to return to areas overwhelmed by chronic poverty and unemployment.\n\nWe are just past the 50-year mark of the War on Poverty. Sadly, 50 years later we are still fighting that war, and every one of our states has areas of high poverty, high unemployment, and shaky finances.\n\nI think it is time we try a different approach, an approach that harnesses the ingenuity and hard work of individuals, families, and businesses in our most afflicted communities, an approach that invites new investment to these communities, an approach that is free from government bailouts and bureaucrats picking winners and losers, an approach that provides hope and opportunity.\n\nEconomic Freedom Zones would the largest anti-poverty program since the War on Poverty.\n\nEconomic Freedom Zones are areas of reduced taxes and regulations, and increased incentives for businesses. This legislation is much more than a government stimulus or handout. This legislation will empower communities by leveraging the human capital, natural resources, and business investment opportunities that already exist. Reducing the taxes in economically depressed areas is a stimulus that will work because the money is returned to businesses and individuals who have already proven they can succeed.\n\nCities and counties will be designated as Economic Freedom Zones if local unemployment is 50 percent above the national average, or if 30 percent of the population is below the poverty line. Localities that are bankrupt or are in danger of bankruptcy are eligible too, in order to attract new investment and economic activity that will help shore up the local finances without the need for a bailout.\n\nBy slashing the federal tax rate to five percent for a 10-year period, we can finally incentivize more businesses to locate in our struggling communities and provide more jobs and opportunities. And my plan leaves the hard earned dollars of those in a community right there in the community. It doesn\u2019t go to Washington, where politicians pick winners and losers, it stays with the community, where the consumers decide who succeeds.\n\nEconomic Freedom Zones will work where Big Government has failed because the money will remain in the hands of people that local consumers have voted most able to run a business. Whereas big government programs often send money to people unable to run a profitable business, Economic Freedom Zones return the money to businesses and individuals that have already proven they can run a successful business.\n\nThe President\u2019s big government stimulus plan was funded by debt. It didn\u2019t work because government always fails to identify profitable uses for capital whereas returning capital to those who originally earned it will provide a stimulus exponentially greater.\n\nIn the Eastern part of Kentucky, this legislation would provide over half-a-billion dollars each year in much needed capital. In West Louisville, this legislation would provide more than a $200-million infusion each year. More importantly this legislation will provide hope and opportunity where today little optimism exists.\n\nFor Detroit, it would mean an extra $368 million stays in the community this year, in the hands of the families who earned it and can spend it locally and businesses that have demonstrated success in the local economy so they can hire new employees. Businesses that move to the area and hire local workers will be able to take advantage of the tax rates, bringing new jobs and opportunity.\n\nFlint will see an immediate cash infusion of $124 million this year. As business returns to Flint, as the local economy begins to grow, so too will the ability of local government to finance their infrastructure. This legislation will help the city\u2019s economy recover and its families have more of their own money to spend on their needs.\n\nFor Baltimore, Economic Freedom Zones will mean an extra $452 million this year left in Baltimore. For Chicago, $1.5 billion left in Chicago.\n\nThose economic effects will be real and will be felt immediately. But Economic Freedom Zones will provide other reforms that set the stage for medium and long-term growth as well.\n\nEconomic Freedom Zones will lift some of the most anti-growth regulatory burden, without jeopardizing the health and safety of the public or the environment.\n\nFederal permitting requirements for construction projects will be streamlined.\n\nRegulations that artificially drive up labor costs will also be suspended.\n\nAnd foreign investment that brings jobs to the community will be encouraged.\n\nOutside investment into local education and social services will be encouraged by Economic Freedom Zone Tax Credits.\n\nAnd to set the stage for continuous growth and opportunity for the next generation, education reforms will allow parents to move their children out of failing schools and into the school of their choice.\n\nThe War on Poverty has been going on for over fifty years and often it seems like poverty is winning. They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Big government programs haven\u2019t cured poverty. In fact, some argue, they\u2019ve just made the problem worse. Isn\u2019t it time we tried something different.\n\nToday, the Senate will have a chance to try something different. Today the Senate will have an opportunity to begin the rebuilding of America. I urge my colleagues to vote for Economic Freedom Zones.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-votes-sen-rand-pauls-economic-freedom-zones-amendment-energy-bill/", "Senate Votes on Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s \u201cEconomic Freedom Zones\u201d Amendment to Energy Bill", "2016-04-19", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Biggest Anti-Poverty Initiative Since the War on Poverty if Passed\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The U.S. Senate today voted on Senator Rand Paul\u2019s amendment, known as the Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2015 (S.790), to H.R. 2028, the Energy Policy Modernization Act. The legislation will establish free market enterprise zones and dramatically reduce taxes in order to help facilitate the creation of new jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, enhance and renew educational opportunities and increase community involvement in bankrupt or economically distressed areas. These zones will apply to any zip code with unemployment greater than one and a half times the national average. Sen. Paul originally introduced the legislation for the 114th Congress in March 2015.\n\nThe vote, which needed 60 to pass, was 35-62.\n\nPrior to the vote, Sen. Rand Paul delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to support the Economic Freedom Zones Act. A video and transcript of Sen. Paul\u2019s floor speech are available below.\n\nAdditionally, top-line bullet points and background information on the Economic Freedom Zones Act can be found HERE.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Paul: Jack Kemp and others who have looked and examined the issue of poverty have often found that we haven\u2019t done a great job alleviating poverty. We\u2019ve tried government programs in my state. We\u2019ve tried them in rural Appalachia for 40 years, and yet we still have persistent poverty.\n\nMany of us believe that we would have a better chance with poverty if we would lower taxes in these areas, lessen regulation and instead of sending the money to Washington, leave it where the poverty is.\n\nMy bill alone would leave $500 million in eastern Kentucky, $200 million in Louisville. We\u2019ve had much discussion of Flint, Michigan, and the water problem there.\n\nMy bill would leave $124 million in Flint, Michigan next week. My bill would leave over $1 billion in Detroit. If there are those in this body who can come together and say that we have a unified presence and a unified ability and desire to combat poverty, this is the bill to do it.\n\nIt\u2019s called Economic Freedom Zones, and I hope we\u2019ll get bipartisan support in favor of leaving money in these impoverished communities to help them get started again. Thank you.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-announces-senate-vote-economic-freedom-zones-amendment-energy-bill/", "Sen. Rand Paul Announces Senate Vote on \u201cEconomic Freedom Zones\u201d Amendment to Energy Bill", "2016-04-18", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Biggest Anti-Poverty Initiative Since the War on Poverty if Passed\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today announced plans for the Senate to vote this week on his legislation, known as the Economic Freedom Zones Act of 2015. The legislation, S.790, will be voted on as an amendment to H.R. 2028, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.\n\nThe Economic Freedom Zones Act will establish free market enterprise zones and dramatically reduce taxes in order to help facilitate the creation of new jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, enhance and renew educational opportunities and increase community involvement in bankrupt or economically distressed areas. These zones will apply to any zip code with unemployment greater than one and a half times the national average. Sen. Paul originally introduced the legislation for the 114th Congress in March 2015.\n\n\u201cEconomic Freedom Zones would be the largest anti-poverty initiative since the War on Poverty. There are many communities in our country, and throughout Kentucky, still waiting and praying for economic recovery and opportunity,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cThe Economic Freedom Zones Act will allow impoverished areas to remove the shackles of big government by reducing taxes, regulations, and burdensome work requirements. By taking drastic, meaningful action, my legislation will create new jobs, get these communities back to work, and give Americans in these areas the chance to succeed. I am proud to have secured a vote on my proposal this week,\u201d Sen. Paul continued.\n\nTop-line bullet points and background information on the Economic Freedom Zones Act can be found HERE or below.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION\n\nThe Economic Freedom Zone legislation will provide the following:\n\nImmediate Relief \u2013 The quickest way to spur economic recovery is to allow residents and successful businesses to keep more of the money they earn so they can more fully engage in economic activity. Economic Freedom Zones achieve this by:\n\nReducing the individual and corporate income tax to a single, flat rate of 5 percent;\n\nReducing payroll taxes by 2 percent for both the employer and employee, at no cost to the trust funds.\n\nMid-Term Reinvestment \u2013 The quickest way to spur economic recovery is to allow residents While tax cuts provide immediate relief, economic recovery also requires new investment in communities. Economic Freedom Zones empower both business and local government to make these critical investments by:\n\nAttracting Business\n\nDouble the amount of 100 percent expensing of all business investment costs;\n\nSuspending eligible capital gains taxes;\n\nSuspending EPA non-attainment designations in Economic Freedom Zone areas; and\n\nProviding municipalities option to waive certain land use restrictions.\n\nFreeing Municipalities to foster growth\n\nExempting eligible municipalities from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System requirements;\n\nStreamlining National Environmental Policy Act requirements for construction projects; and\n\nSuspend Davis-Bacon wage requirements.\n\nLong-Term Revitalization \u2013 For communities to thrive over the long-term, they need to develop and attract the best human capital possible. Economic Freedom Zones help build a 21st Century workforce made up of local talent while attracting new workers.\n\nProviding states with school choice options with Dept. of Education Title I portability funding for areas designated Economic Freedom Zones;\n\nProviding a new $5,000 per child educational tax credit to parents or guardians;\n\nEstablish new Economic Freedom Zone Charitable Tax Credit for entities in eligible areas for \u2013\n\nReligious organizations or institutions;\n\nEducational entities, including educational scholarships;\n\nHomeless shelters and food banks.\n\nEstablishing new Economic Freedom Zone Visa (at the State\u2019s discretion) \u2013\n\nEntrepreneurial investment: for qualified immigrants creating a new business and employing 5 U.S. citizens; and\n\nEducation performance needs: for qualified immigrants with a specialty degree or higher education qualification meeting Economic Freedom Zone needs.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-exposes-2-million-state-department-project-sending-filmmakers-worldwide-promote/", "Sen. Rand Paul Exposes $2 Million State Department Project Sending Filmmakers Worldwide to Promote Diplomacy", "2016-04-18", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul draws attention to the U.S. Department of State expending $2 million taxpayer dollars, in the last year alone, to send filmmakers to various countries across the globe to show their documentaries in order to foster \u201cunderstanding and cooperation, dialogue and debate.\u201d Since the project\u2019s beginning over 4 years ago, the government has spent nearly $5 million and has reached roughly 25,000 individuals worldwide \u2013 meaning the U.S. taxpayer has paid just over $200 a person.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nDocumentaries often give us insight into some subject with which we were previously not familiar. What you might also not be familiar with is how last year Uncle Sam spent over $2 million of your tax money to send filmmakers around the world showing their documentaries in the name of diplomacy.[1]\n\nThe American Film Showcase, a partnership between the University of Southern California and the U.S. Department of State (State) \u201chighlights the value of film in fostering understanding and cooperation, dialogue and debate.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Showcase\u2019s overview video, people\u2019s perception of the U.S. is often drawn from blockbuster movies, said while panning past a Captain America shield. The Showcase aims to spread a more realistic view of America around the world, but also \u201c[t]o encourage American filmmakers and film experts to learn about life and culture in selected host countries.\u201d Thus, the taxpayer has paid to send these film-makers on 7-10 day trips to foreign countries, screening their and others\u2019 works.\n\nIn fact, over four years, the Showcase has sent filmmakers to 73 countries \u201creaching\u201d roughly 25,000 people worldwide according to the programs figures.[2] With approximately $5 million in grants from State over that time, the U.S. taxpayer is paying just over $200 a person \u201creached\u201d by film.\n\nTo fund this project just this year would require the entire tax liability of 277 average American taxpayers.[3] Of course, this year\u2019s federal deficit, according to President Obama\u2019s most recent budget, will be $616 billion.[4] Meaning instead, Uncle Sam is more likely borrowing money from countries like China, and you\u2019re paying the interest, to send filmmakers and their movies around the world.\n\nSo what kinds of movies reach people around the world, fostering healthy relationships? As you might or might not expect, there are films like Trash Dance, which tells of a woman\u2019s journey to choreograph sanitation workers and their equipment in a dance; Top Spin, telling the tale of American teenagers\u2019 quest to become table tennis champions; and Spellbound, a story about the U.S. National Spelling Bee.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-statement-ustr-and-commerce-hearing-advocating-ak-steel/", "Sen. Rand Paul Statement at USTR and Commerce Hearing Advocating for AK Steel", "2016-04-18", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the following statement, on behalf of AK Steel\u2019s unemployed workers in the Ashland community, at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce hearing last week regarding the global steel industry and its impact on the U.S. steel industry and market. Ashland Mayor Chuck Charles and Tim Gibbs, President of the Ashland Alliance, also testified before the USTR and Commerce representatives.\n\nFollowing AK Steel\u2019s announcement of major layoffs at the Ashland Works plant in October 2015, Sen. Paul has worked closely with the Ashland delegation and community leaders to monitor the situation and has made several official inquiries into the U.S. Department of Labor to grant Trade Adjustment Assistance on behalf of the Ashland community.\n\nThe full text of the statement can be found below.\n\nSTATEMENT TEXT\n\nMr. Jim Sanford\n\nAssistant U.S. Trade Representative\n\nOffice of the U.S. Trade Representative\n\nWashington, DC\n\nDear Mr. Sanford,\n\nI write to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in regards to the the global steel industry situation and its impact on U.S. steel industry and market (Docket No: 2016-04857) published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2016. I know this is an issue incredibly important to the hard-working families in Ashland, Kentucky, as well many other communities in this great nation.\n\nWorld wide demand for crude steel has decreased significantly in recent years. In countries like China domestic consumption has decreased so significantly that they and possibly other countries have resorted to exporting large amounts of steel far below fair market value, and drastically impacted U.S. steel producers. One such steel producer is AK Steel, which has a facility in Ashland, Kentucky. In October 2015, AK Steel announced the company would temporarily layoff close to 700 employees at its Ashland Works facility and, potentially, idle the plant. The company stated that one of the reasons for the temporary layoffs was the \u201conslaught of unfairly traded imports,\u201d a situation more commonly known as \u201csteel dumping\u201d.\n\nAfter AK Steel\u2019s announcement, I had many conversations with local and industry officials, including AK Steel\u2019s former CEO, James Wainscott, Ashland\u2019s Mayor Chuck Charles, and other Ashland community leaders. Following these conversations, I sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and to the International Trade Administration (ITA) urging an expedited ruling to determine which country \u2013 China, India, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan, is responsible for artificially depressing the price of foreign steel introduced into U.S. markets. Congress has already taken legislative steps to help protect the U.S. steel industry. With my support, Congress passed and the President signed into law, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The Trade Enforcement Act will significantly mitigate future attempts of \u201cdumping\u201d imports in the U.S. In addition, I, along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), sent a bipartisan and bicameral letter to President Obama requesting an expedited presidential investigation into accusations of steel dumping.\n\nI made a promise to the Ashland Community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to closely monitor this situation and aid in any way possible. The Department of Commerce\u2019s hearing on this topic is greatly needed to give a voice to the employees, communities and businesses affected by \u201cdumping\u201d. I will continue to strongly advocate for those impacted by unfair trade practices.\n\nI request that the that you take all necessary steps to support the U.S. steel industry in upcoming and ongoing trade cases. As well as continue to enforce current trade laws to defend our nations\u2019 industries from dumping of cheap foreign steel.\n\nThank you for your time and thoughtful consideration.\n\nSincerely,\n\nRAND PAUL\n\nUNITED STATES SENATOR\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-protecting-gun-rights-and-due-process-act/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act", "2016-04-14", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today introduced the Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act, which would provide protection for gun owners by ensuring due process rights are upheld in the event an individual\u2019s eligibility is questioned and reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).\n\n\u201cThe Obama administration is at it again, and this time they are unilaterally stripping gun rights from our nation\u2019s veterans and seniors. The Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act will provide necessary protection for gun-owning Americans, and ultimately ensure that the Second Amendment is not infringed upon,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nThe Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act has gained support from the following organizations: the Gun Owners of America and the National Association of Gun Rights.\n\n\u201cSenator Paul\u2019s \u2018Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act\u2019 will do much to block President Obama\u2019s ability to strip the Second Amendment rights from law-abiding gun owners, veterans, and senior citizens without due process. Furthermore, it would restore rights for thousands of law-abiding gun owners, veterans, and senior citizens who were stripped of their Second Amendment rights without getting their day in court. Once again this bill shows that Senator Paul is one of Washington\u2019s leading advocates for gun owners and the Second Amendment,\u201d said the National Association of Gun Rights.\n\nTo read the legislation in its entirety, click HERE. Top-line bullet points and background information on the Protecting Gun Rights and Due Process Act can be found HERE or below.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE PROTECTING GUN RIGHTS AND DUE PROCESS ACT\n\nProhibits the sale or disposition of a firearm or ammunition to an individual that has been adjudicated as mentally incompetent or committed to a psychiatric hospital. Adjudication requires findings by a judicial officer or court and the individual receives notice to participate with counsel.\n\nWithin 90 days, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must review and remove from NICS any veteran that has not been adjudicated as mentally incompetent. The Attorney General will certify that the removal of names has taken place.\n\nPrevents the Social Security Administrator from reporting individuals to NICS unless individual has been adjudicated as mentally incompetent. Attorney General will conduct a yearly review to certify reported names have necessary documentation.\n\nAttorney General must certify a state\u2019s report indicating a person had been adjudicated as mentally incompetent prior to inclusion to NICS.\n\nAll individuals considered to no longer be adjudicated as mentally incompetent will be notified and have their rights restored.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-murphy-introduce-legislation-set-new-conditions-us-military-support-saudi-arabia/", "Sens. Paul, Murphy Introduce Legislation to Set New Conditions For U.S. Military Support to Saudi Arabia", "2016-04-13", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "Bipartisan legislation will suspend certain munitions transfers to Saudi Arabia until President of the United States certifies Saudi Arabia\u2019s demonstrated commitment to fighting terror & protecting civilians in Yemen\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, today introduced new legislation to prevent the United States from continuing to support Saudi-led military campaigns in places like Yemen where Saudi Arabia\u2019s year-long campaign has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis and a security vacuum that has empowered our terrorist enemies al Qaeda and ISIS. The Murphy-Paul bipartisan legislation will require the President of the United States to formally certify that the Government of Saudi Arabia is demonstrating an ongoing effort to target terrorist groups, minimize harm to civilians, and facilitate humanitarian assistance before Congress can consider the sale or transfer of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia.\n\n\u201cSaudi Arabia is an important partner, but we must acknowledge when a friend\u2019s actions aren\u2019t in our national interest. I have yet to see evidence that the civil war we\u2019re supplying and supporting in Yemen advances our national security. The more it drags on, the clearer it becomes that our military involvement on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition is prolonging human suffering in Yemen and aiding the very groups that are intent on attacking us,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cAs the humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate, anti-American sentiment is spiraling as the local population blames the U.S. for the thousands of civilian deaths resulting from the Saudis\u2019 bombing campaign. This will come back to haunt us. And worse, our Gulf state partners have scaled back their anti-ISIS activity in order to focus on fighting Iran in Yemen. It\u2019s time that we put real conditions on our military aid to the Saudis, including the requirement that their proxy wars with Iran not distract them from the fight against violent extremist groups like ISIS.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor too long the Obama administration has not been holding countries receiving U.S. military munitions accountable in the Middle East. It is no secret that Saudi Arabia\u2019s record on strictly targeting combatants and legitimate military targets in Yemen has been questionable. I believe, along with Sen. Murphy, that the U.S. should halt the sale of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia until Congress has conducted proper oversight and ensured that such munitions are being used in a way that is consistent with our country\u2019s national security strategy and values,\u201d Paul said.\n\nUnder current law outlined in the Arms Export Control Act, the sale or transfer of arms to foreign governments by the United States must be proposed by the U.S. State Department and then approved by Congress. If Congress approves the sale, the Administration is then permitted to finalize and implement the transfer. The Murphy-Paul legislation will add a step to the approval process by requiring the President of the United States to attest that Saudi Arabia is concretely demonstrating its anti-terror efforts and protection of civilians before Congress can consider the sale. The President\u2019s certification will assess whether Saudi Arabia has used U.S.-origin munitions in attacks against civilians in Yemen, how that affects U.S. credibility in the region, and how defense sales to Saudi Arabia contribute to U.S. national security objectives.\n\nMurphy has repeatedly expressed concern that U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia\u2019s military actions against Houthi rebels in Yemen threatens our own national security interests. In an address at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this year, Murphy noted the positive and cooperative components of the United States\u2019 alliance with Saudi Arabia, but specifically criticized their support for spreading intolerance and called for our nation to suspend supporting Saudi Arabia\u2019s military campaign in Yemen until we are sure it does not distract from the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda. March 26, 2016 marked the one-year anniversary of the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen.\n\nUnder this joint resolution, the President\u2019s certification must attest the following conditions are met:\n\n1. The Government of Saudi Arabia is not providing funding, materiel support, or lethal aid to designated foreign terrorist organizations;\n\n2. The Government of Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are taking all feasible precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, in the course of military action undertaken in their self-defense as described in section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2754).\n\n3. The Government of Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are making demonstrable efforts to facilitate both humanitarian assistance and commercial goods, including commercial fuel and commodities not prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015).\n\n4. The Government of Saudi Arabia is taking all necessary measures to target designated foreign terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as part of its military operations in Yemen.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-holds-hearing-fema-examine-waste-and-identify-solutions/", "Sen. Rand Paul Holds Hearing on FEMA to Examine Waste and Identify Solutions", "2016-04-12", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management for the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) held a hearing entitled, \u201cFEMA: Assessing Progress, Performance, and Preparedness.\u201d Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the subcommittee, and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) also participated in the hearing.\n\nDuring the oversight hearing, Sen. Paul assessed the effectiveness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) preparedness grants programs, and highlighted examples of wasteful spending by grant recipients. Sen. Paul also sought additional details on FEMA\u2019s lack of progress in implementing recommendations from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Office of Inspector General.\n\nWitnesses testifying in the hearing included: Timothy W. Manning, Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security; John Roth, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Christopher Currie, Director of Emergency Management, National Preparedness, and Critical Infrastructure Protection for the Homeland Security and Justice Team and U.S. Government Accountability Office; and John Drake, Deputy Administrator and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for the U.S. Department of Transportation\n\nThe video of Sen. Paul\u2019s opening remarks at the committee hearing can be found below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S OPENING REMARKS AT THE COMMITTEE HEARING ?\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-veterans-health-administration-neglecting-care-veterans-top-wasting/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights Veterans Health Administration Neglecting Care of Veterans on Top of Wasting $217,000 on Unused Medical Equipment", "2016-04-11", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul highlights the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System knowingly allowing $217,000 taxpayer dollars\u2019 worth of medical equipment to sit idle for over four months preventing veterans from getting the medical care they deserve and need.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nYou might have heard some new terms lately, things like: supply-chain, just-in-time inventory, Lean Six Sigma, and even some old words like efficiency and logistics have gotten new pep. It is all part of a collective realization in business that letting supplies sit idle is wasteful; even the best tools and products do no good if they are misused or allowed to sit.\n\nUnfortunately, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) seems to have missed this trend and allowed 360 pieces of medical equipment to sit idle for months, costing taxpayers $217,000.[1]\n\nAccording to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of the Inspector General (IG), the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System took delivery of $1.8 million worth of leased urology equipment in October 2014, and then let it sit idle for nearly half a year. Unlike purchased equipment that presumable has life based on usage, this equipment has a fixed time lease of three years, meaning the taxpayer pays for it whether they are using it or not.\n\nThe VHA tried to justify this delay in two ways \u2013 that any new equipment must go through an onboarding process, cataloging, cleaning, training, etc., and that the contracting officer suddenly retired and was not able to coordinate the onboarding process.\n\nHowever, it was a whistleblower that brought this issue to the IG, indicating even within the VA there was a sentiment that this equipment was being ignored. So how arduous is the onboarding process? While it does include a number of things like tagging and inventory and even staff training, from the time the whistleblower brought it to the VA\u2019s attention to the time the equipment was deployed was roughly one month.\n\nThe rapid response to oversight also makes it hard to believe that even a sudden personnel change would cause months of delay. In fact, the procurement process was only six months to begin with, from April to October in 2014. The lease itself was signed just one month before delivery. In other words, there was a fairly short window for this sudden retirement to have caused such trouble in the onboarding process but not to derail the whole procurement.\n\nEven recognizing that receiving and deploying equipment may take some amount of time, the IG found that this equipment sat idle of four months, costing the taxpayer $217,000. Wasting taxpayer\u2019s money is always wrong and troubling, but the IG made another important observation: \u201cwasted expenditures reduce the availability of funds necessary to treat veterans\u2026\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-amendments-faa-reauthorization-act/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Amendments to FAA Reauthorization Act", "2016-04-07", "2016", "2016-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "The \u201cArming All Pilots Act\u201d Amendment and a Bipartisan Amendment with Sen. Edward Markey\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul this week introduced two amendments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016. The first amendment, known as the Arming All Pilots Act (S.1594), would increase training opportunities to encourage pilots to participate in the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) Program. Sen. Paul\u2019s second bipartisan amendment, introduced alongside Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), would protect an individual\u2019s right to privacy against unwarranted governmental intrusion through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones.\n\nSpecifically, the Arming All Pilots Act as an amendment would expand the number of training facilities used for initial and recurrent training, including firearms requalification. Additionally, the bill will require a five-day initial training, with two days of in-person classroom attendance and additional on-line training options. Recurrent training for officers would be set at two days every five years. Sen. Paul originally introduced the Arming All Pilots Act in June 2015.\n\n\u201cThe Federal Flight Deck Officer Program is an important element in our continued efforts to ensure the safety of airline passengers, and my amendment will make it possible for more pilots to get trained and protect flyers. Pilots regularly tell me they\u2019ve experienced problems with the availability of training under the current program; my amendment addresses those concerns and ensures that participants in the program have the critical training they need,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nThe second bipartisan amendment would prohibit law enforcement from using a drone to surveil or collect evidence pertaining to a violation of a law or regulation without a warrant. While the use of drone aircraft and technology continues to expand in all areas of the government, the amendment will ensure the protection of every American citizen\u2019s right to constitutional privacy protections.\n\n\u201cThe use of drone surveillance may work on the battlefields overseas, but it isn\u2019t well-suited for unrestrained use on the streets in the United States. Congress must be vigilant in providing oversight to the use of this technology and protection for rights of the American people. I will continue the fight to protect and uphold our Fourth Amendment,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cJust as we have rules of the road for manned vehicles, we now need rules of the sky for unmanned ones,\u201d said Sen. Markey, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FAA. \u201cRequiring that law enforcement obtain a warrant before using a drone ensures we reap the economic and educational benefits of drones while ensuring the privacy of Americans is protected. I thank Senator Paul for his partnership on this amendment, and I look forward to fighting to ensure that Americans are guaranteed strong personal privacy protections as these new vehicles take flight.\u201d\n\nTo read the Arming all Pilots in its entirety, click HERE. Top-line bullet points and background information on the amendment introduced with Sen. Markey can be found below, and the text can be found HERE.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON BIPARTISAN AMENDMENT INTRODUCED WITH SEN. MARKEY\n\nProhibits the use of drones owned or funded by the federal government in an evidence-collection or surveillance capacity unless a warrant authorizing the action has been obtained.\n\nIncludes the following exceptions:\n\nPatrol of national borders;\n\nWhen there is imminent danger to life;\n\nHigh risk of a terrorist attack.\n\nSpecifies that no evidence obtained or collected in violation of this amendment can be used/admissible as evidence in a criminal, civil, or regulatory action.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:49:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-statement-department-labor-allow-taa-assistance-ak-steel-ashland-layoffs/", "Sen. Rand Paul Statement on Department of Labor to Allow TAA Assistance for AK Steel Ashland Layoffs", "2016-03-29", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s announcement to grant Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program eligibility to the unemployed personnel at AK Steel\u2019s Ashland Works plant in Ashland, Kentucky.\n\n\u201cAfter making several official inquiries on behalf of the unemployed workers and families in the Ashland community, I am extremely pleased today to hear of the Department of Labor\u2019s decision to grant AK Steel\u2019s Ashland Works plant eligibility to obtain TAA benefits and services. I made a commitment to the community to monitor this situation and aid in any way possible, and will continue to do so,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nFollowing AK Steel\u2019s announcement of major layoffs at the Ashland Works plant in October 2015, Sen. Paul has worked closely with the Ashland delegation and community leaders to monitor the situation and has made several official inquiries into TAA assistance on behalf of AK Steel\u2019s unemployed workers. Benefits of the TAA program will include: reemployment services to help workers obtain new employment, weekly income support payments, and eligibility for tax credits to cover health insurance premiums.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-national-park-services-150000-grant-study-alaskan-natives-beliefs/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers National Park Service\u2019s $150,000 Grant to Study Alaskan Native\u2019s Beliefs of the Supernatural", "2016-03-29", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nIn the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Sen. Paul uncovers the National Park Service (NPS) funding a $150,000 grant to conduct a three-year study where the primary objective is to investigate Alaska\u2019s Bering Strait Inuit tribe\u2019s experiences with the supernatural in Alaska. According to NPS, the supernatural occurrences the study explores will be unexplained lights, sea monsters, invisible sea birds, animals with transformative powers, a variety of other non-human persons, and so on.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nHonestly, we did not make this up and we did not find this one in the Onion; but someone must have been really excited about Fox\u2019s reboot of the X-Files because the National Park Service is spending $150,000 of taxpayer money to investigate supernatural events in Alaska.[1]\n\nYes, you read that right. Last month, the National Park Service announced a $150,000 grant to Kawerak, Inc., who has no cost-sharing obligation, to conduct a three-year study under the title, \u201cKnowledge, Experience and Beliefs of the Supernatural Environment.\u201d By the way, this is the same Park Service that reports it has an almost $12 billion maintenance backlog.[2]\n\nYou might think this is simply cataloging historical and traditional beliefs of indigenous peoples of Alaska. To be sure, part of the project is to conduct archival research, but there is more. According to the announcement, \u201cThe primary objective of this project is to investigate Bering Strait Inuit residents\u2019 beliefs and knowledge about (and experiences with) the supernatural environment\u2026\u201d\n\nExperiences with the supernatural? Yes. In fact, according to the announcement, Kawerak is expected to, \u201c[d]ocument community members\u2019 personal experience with the supernatural\u2026\u201d[3] This will include community meetings where all ages are expected to participate, children are especially known for their insight and experience with supernatural events. In pre-award advertising for these meetings Kawerak noted this is meant to be a \u201cserious and meaningful\u201d collaboration on the supernatural. Serious, indeed, the advertisement also promises participants an honorarium.[4]\n\nSo, what constitutes supernatural? Well, \u201celements in and aspects of the environment such as little people, unexplained lights, sea monsters, invisible sea birds, animals with transformative powers, a variety of other non-human persons, landscape features with special powers, and other similar phenomena as defined by participants.\u201d\n\nIn addition to direct funding, the National Park Service has committed to help with logistical support including to, \u201cassist making agreements on using government housing,\u201d promoting the project on Facebook, and to \u201chave the project products translated into Russian.\u201d[5] Back in the natural world, we know this project translates into more than 20 average taxpayers\u2019 total one-year tax liability.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-announces-champion-interactive-waste-report-bracket/", "Sen. Rand Paul Announces Champion of the Interactive \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 Bracket", "2016-03-21", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today announced \u201chelped deported illegal immigrants start businesses in their home country\u201d as the overall champion of the interactive bracket of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 known as the Tournament of Government Waste. On Friday, the last two groups standing that went head-to-head in the finals were: Helped deported illegal immigrants start businesses in their home country and Allow millionaires to live in taxpayer-subsidized public housing.\n\nThe interactive tournament bracket, consisting of four rounds over the span of five days, commenced on Tuesday, March 15th and concluded Friday, March 18th. Results for the tournament were counted at midnight at the end of each day and announced the following day.\n\nTo read Sen. Paul\u2019s wrap-up of the Tournament of Government Waste, view HERE or below. The results for the bracket can also be viewed below.\n\nWRAP-UP OF THE TOURNAMENT OF GOVERNMENT WASTE\n\nIllegal Immigrants\u2019 Business Plans!!!! After four intense rounds of voting, Illegal Immigrants\u2019 Business Plans emerged as the Champion of Government Waste. After surviving a close second round matchup against the Afghan Cricket League, Illegal Immigrant\u2019s Business Plans easily knocked off #1 seed, Paying to Send Pakistani Kids to Space Camp, to advance to the finals. In a back and forth, barn burner of a final round, Illegal Immigrants\u2019 Business Plans prevailed 52% to 48% over Millionaires in Public Housing.\n\nThis was the first year of The Waste Report\u2019s, Tournament of Government Waste, where we pitted 16 of the worst examples of government waste against each other, and let you decide which was the most egregious.\n\nThe champion, Illegal Immigrant Business Plans was the subject of the January 4th, 2016 Waste Report. You will recall that the Inter-America Foundation spent $50,000 in El Salvador to help aid returning deportees start businesses there. The Inter-American Foundation sought to clarify that the program was not \u201cintended\u201d to aid criminal deportees (those convicted of crimes in the U.S.) but did not rule out the possibility. It is no wonder such a program was chosen by the voters as the best (or maybe worst) example of government waste in this year\u2019s tournament.\n\nThese and many more examples of federal boondoggles can be found at Senator Paul and the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee\u2019s websites, where we\u2019ve chronicled 46 federal boondoggles totaling more than $1.12 billion. To put that number in prospective, it took the total one-year tax liability of 155,700 average Americans to fund this waste.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-announces-results-final-matchup-interactive-waste-report-bracket/", "Sen. Rand Paul Announces Results for the Final Matchup of the Interactive \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 Bracket", "2016-03-18", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced the results for the final two groups left competing for the Tournament of Government Waste, which is a special interactive bracket of \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019 The last two groups standing that will go head-to-head in the finals will be: Helped deport illegal immigrants start businesses in their home country and Allow millionaires to live in taxpayer-subsidized public housing.\n\nThe interactive tournament bracket, consisting of four rounds over the span of five days, is featured on Sen. Paul\u2019s official website and Facebook page, and commenced on Tuesday, March 15th and will conclude Friday, March 18th. Results for the tournament will be counted at midnight at the end of each day and announced the following day. The overall champion of the tournament will be announced on Monday, March 21st.\n\nThe next round of the Tournament of Government Waste bracket can be viewed below. To access and participate in \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 tournament on Sen. Paul\u2019s website and Facebook page, click HERE and HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-announces-second-round-results-special-interactive-waste-report-bracket/", "Sen. Rand Paul Announces Second Round Results of Special Interactive \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 Bracket", "2016-03-17", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today announced the second round results for the Tournament of Government Waste, which is a special interactive bracket of \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019 The second round of the tournament was comprised of 8 head-to-head lineups of egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government, previously released from Sen. Paul\u2019s \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019\n\nThe winners of the second day that will advance to the next round include: Sending Kids to Pakistan on a trip to Space Camp, Helped deport illegal immigrants start businesses in their home country, Allow millionaires to live in taxpayer-subsidized public housing, and Built a gas station in Afghanistan that nobody uses.\n\nThe interactive tournament bracket, consisting of four rounds over the span of five days, is featured on Sen. Paul\u2019s official website and Facebook page, and commenced on Tuesday, March 15th and will conclude Friday, March 18th. Results for the tournament will be counted at midnight at the end of each day and announced the following day. The overall champion of the tournament will be announced on Monday, March 21st.\n\nThe next round of the Tournament of Government Waste bracket can be viewed below. To access and participate in \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 tournament on Sen. Paul\u2019s website and Facebook page, click HERE and HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-help-committee-passes-sens-rand-paul-and-edward-markeys-bipartisan-treat-act/", "HELP Committee Passes Sens. Rand Paul and Edward Markey\u2019s Bipartisan \u201cTREAT Act\u201d", "2016-03-16", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The U.S. Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee today unanimously passed the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT Act), originally introduced by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA). The bipartisan TREAT Act would expand specialized treatment for prescription painkiller and heroin addiction.\n\nAs a physician by trade for over 20 years, Sen. Paul has been leading the fight to provide greater treatment opportunities for patients struggling with drug addiction by eliminating Washington\u2019s overreaching and misguided restrictions on patients\u2019 access to treatment. Specifically, the TREAT Act would expand the ability of addiction medical specialists and other trained medical professionals to provide life-saving medication-assisted therapies such as buprenorphine, also called Suboxone, for patients battling heroin and prescription painkiller addiction.\n\n\u201cI am encouraged today by the HELP Committee\u2019s passage of the TREAT Act. All across Kentucky, I have heard time and time again from families and medical professionals how the federal government\u2019s arbitrary patient caps are blocking access to effective and proven treatments for those who want help, and ultimately, harming both the addicted person and their loved ones. The TREAT Act will remove a roadblock to getting people the help they need to break the cycle of addition and get on a path to recovery,\u201d said Senator Paul.\n\n\u201cWe need to remove the barriers to effective treatment for opioid addiction, including outdated federal restrictions on medication-assisted therapies like buprenorphine. Unlike any other treatment regimen for any other disease, physicians are severely limited in the number of patients they can treat with medication-assisted therapies, contributing to long waitlists and the inability of patients to get treatment for their addiction when they need it. Approximately 2.5 million Americans who abused or were dependent on opioids in 2012, fewer than one million received treatment for their condition, partly because of these misguided federal restrictions. If we are going to reduce the supply for heroin and illicit prescription drugs we have to reduce the demand through treatment. I thank Senator Paul for his partnership on this effort, and I urge Senate leadership to bring this important legislation to the floor for a full Senate vote,\u201d Senator Markey said.\n\nClick HERE to read the TREAT Act in its entirety. Top-line bullet points and background information on the TREAT Act amendment can be found below.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE TREAT ACT\n\nExpands the maximum allowable patient cap from 100 to 500 maximum patients.\n\nChanges the initial (first year) allowable patient load under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from 30 to 100, and after one year a physician may request to treat up to 500 patients.\n\nAllows certain physicians, after one year, to request to treat up to 500 patients. To be eligible:\n\nPhysicians must be substance abuse treatment specialists, as recognized by specific board or society certifications, or\n\nNon-specialist physicians must complete 24 hours of approved training.\n\nPhysicians must also maintain records about whether they provide counseling services on site or refer patients elsewhere for such services, and how frequently such patients use those services, and the frequency with which patients terminate treatment against medical advice.\n\nProvides states the flexibility to set the patient cap for their state at higher or lower than the cap under the CSA (but no lower than 30 patients and no more than 500). States may also set requirements about the types of facilities or practice settings physicians can use to treat addiction patients, required education, or reporting requirements.\n\nAllows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) to be able to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid addiction for the first time. NPs and PAs would be qualified to treat up to 100 patients if they complete 24 hours of education on the treatment of addiction patients.\n\nRequires HHS, after 2 years, and GAO, after 4 years, to issue reports to Congress about the effect of this legislation in terms of availability of treatment, quality of treatment programs, integration with other health care services, diversion, state-level policies, and use of nurse practitioners and physician\u2019s assistants to provide this treatment.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-announces-first-round-results-special-interactive-waste-report-bracket/", "Sen. Rand Paul Announces First Round Results of Special Interactive \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 Bracket", "2016-03-16", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today announced first round results from his special interactive bracket of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 known as the Tournament of Government Waste. For the first round of the tournament, the bracket was comprised of 16 head-to-head lineups of egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government, previously released from Sen. Paul\u2019s \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019\n\nThe winners of the first day that will advance to the second round include: Sending Kids to Pakistan on a trip to Space Camp, Pitched in for a Hollywood museum about the Oscars, Started a professional cricket league in Afghanistan, Helped deport illegal immigrants start businesses in their home country, allow millionaires to live in taxpayer-subsidized public housing, studied the gambling habits of Ugandans, gave FEMA assistance for losses already covered by private insurance, and built a gas station in Afghanistan that nobody uses.\n\nThe interactive tournament bracket, consisting of four rounds over the span of five days, will be featured on Sen. Paul\u2019s official website and Facebook page, and commenced on Tuesday, March 15th and will conclude Friday, March 18th. Results for the tournament will be counted at midnight at the end of each day and announced the following day. The overall champion of the tournament will be announced on Monday, March 21st.\n\nThe Second Round of the Tournament of Government Waste bracket can be viewed below. To access and participate in \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 tournament on Sen. Paul\u2019s website and Facebook page, click HERE and HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-help-committee-vote-sens-rand-paul-and-edward-markey-treat-act/", "HELP Committee to Vote on Sens. Rand Paul and Edward Markey \u201cTREAT Act\u201d", "2016-03-15", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Tomorrow, March 16th, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is scheduled to vote on the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT Act), originally introduced by U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA). The bipartisan TREAT Act would expand specialized treatment for prescription drug and heroin addiction.\n\nAs a physician by trade for over 20 years, Sen. Paul has been leading the fight to provide greater treatment opportunities for patients struggling with drug addiction by eliminating Washington\u2019s overreaching and misguided restrictions on patients\u2019 access to treatment. Specifically, the TREAT Act would expand the ability of addiction medical specialists and other trained medical professionals to provide life-saving medication-assisted therapies such as buprenorphine, also called Suboxone, for patients battling heroin and prescription drug addiction. This amendment would also allow qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants the ability to prescribe this medication for the first time.\n\n\u201cAll across Kentucky, I have heard time and time again from families and medical professionals how the federal government\u2019s arbitrary patient caps are blocking access to effective and proven treatments for those who want help, and ultimately, harming both the addicted person and their loved ones. The TREAT Act will remove a roadblock to getting people the help they need to break the cycle of addition and get on a path to recovery,\u201d said Senator Paul.\n\nClick HERE to read the TREAT Act in its entirety. Top-line bullet points and background information on the TREAT Act Manager\u2019s amendment can be found below.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE TREAT ACT MANAGER\u2019S AMENDMENT\n\nExpands the maximum allowable patient cap from 100 to 500 maximum patients.\n\nChanges the initial (first year) allowable patient load under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from 30 to 100, and after one year a physician may request to treat up to 500 patients.\n\nAllows certain physicians, after one year, to request to treat up to 500 patients. To be eligible:\n\nPhysicians must be substance abuse treatment specialists, as recognized by specific board or society certifications, or\n\nNon-specialist physicians must complete 24 hours of approved training.\n\nPhysicians must also maintain records about whether they provide counseling services on site or refer patients elsewhere for such services, and how frequently such patients use those services, and the frequency with which patients terminate treatment against medical advice.\n\nProvides states the flexibility to set the patient cap for their state at higher or lower than the cap under the CSA (but no lower than 30 patients and no more than 500). States may also set requirements about the types of facilities or practice settings physicians can use to treat addiction patients, required education, or reporting requirements.\n\nAllows nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) to be able to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid addiction for the first time. NPs and PAs would be qualified to treat up to 100 patients if they complete 24 hours of education on the treatment of addiction patients.\n\nRequires HHS, after 2 years, and GAO, after 4 years, to issue reports to Congress about the effect of this amendment in terms of availability of treatment, quality of treatment programs, integration with other health care services, diversion, state-level policies, and use of nurse practitioners and physician\u2019s assistants to provide this treatment.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-unveils-special-interactive-waste-report-bracket/", "Sen. Rand Paul Unveils Special Interactive \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 Bracket", "2016-03-15", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today unveiled a special interactive bracket of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 known as the Tournament of Government Waste. The bracket will be comprised of head-to-head lineups of egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government, previously released from Sen. Paul\u2019s \u2018The Waste Report.\u2019\n\nThe interactive tournament bracket, consisting of four rounds over the span of five days, will be featured on Sen. Paul\u2019s official website and Facebook page, and will commence Tuesday, March 15th and conclude Friday, March 18th. Results for the tournament will be counted at midnight at the end of each day and announced the following day. The overall champion of the tournament will be announced on Monday, March 21st.\n\nThe Tournament of Government Waste bracket can be viewed below. To access and participate in \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 tournament on Sen. Paul\u2019s website and Facebook page, click HERE and HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-90000-taxpayer-dollars-spent-department-state-promote-peaceful/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $90,000 Taxpayer Dollars Spent by the Department of State to Promote Peaceful Relations between the U.S. and the United Kingdom", "2016-03-11", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThe latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 uncovers the U.S. Department of State expending $90,000 of taxpayer dollars to promote peaceful relations between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. All the while, the same Department of State considers the U.S. to have \u201cno closer ally than the United Kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nNo lead-in needed for this one. The U.S. Department of State is spending $90,000 to promote better understanding between the U.S. and\u2026.wait for it\u2026.the United Kingdom (UK).\n\nAccording to the grant solicitation, the successful recipient shall make sub-awards between $250 and $40,000 to facilitate, among other things, student and faculty exchange, speakers, and film and art programs.[1] We do not recommend sharing The Patriot.\n\nThe U.S. Embassy in London justifies this grant under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, quoting, \u201cto enable the Government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries\u2026 and thus to assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic, and peaceful relations between the United States and other countries of the world.\u201d[2]\n\nPromoting peaceful relations? While it is true that the United States and the United Kingdom had a rocky start to our relationship, after more than a century of alliance it is probably safe to say we are on pretty good terms with our friends across the pond. You might even say we have a \u201cspecial relationship,\u201d as Winston Churchill did in his famous 1946 \u201cIron Curtain\u201d speech and has been repeated by leaders from both countries ever since.[3]\n\nDon\u2019t take our word for it, according to the same Department of State that is funding this project, \u201cThe United States has no closer ally than the United Kingdom\u2026 Bilateral cooperation reflects the common language, ideals, and democratic practices of the two nations.\u201d In other words, they are our best friend and we have a lot in common.\n\nIn fact, Britons seem to already have a favorable opinion of our two nations\u2019 relationship. A 2010 survey found 66 percent of Britons had a favorable opinion of the U.S. and 62 percent consider us to be their strongest ally.[4] This is pretty remarkable when you consider that Canada and Australia are still Commonwealth Realms \u2013 autonomous nations that still recognize the Queen of England as their monarch.\n\nWith the internet, YouTube, and 24-hour news, if anything, we probably understand each other more now than ever before. Not to mention that approximately 4 million Brits (6 percent of their population) visit the United States each year[5] and 3 million Americans visit the UK.[6] Heck, even the NFL is playing American football in the UK and talking about a team being based there.[7]\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-supports-state-lawmakers-legislation-bring-charter-school-kentucky/", "Sen. Rand Paul Supports State Lawmaker\u2019s Legislation to Bring Charter School to Kentucky", "2016-03-11", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the following statement in support of legislation by Kentucky State Senator Mike Wilson and State Representative Brad Montrell to adopt new laws to bring charter schools to the Commonwealth. Both Sen. Wilson\u2019s and Rep. Montrell\u2019s bills were introduced earlier last week.\n\n\u201cI firmly believe school choice is the great equalizer. All children, no matter who they are or where they live, deserve an equal chance to develop their skills and intellect. I commend Sen. Mike Wilson and Rep. Brad Montrell today for taking the initiative to push for the entrance of charter schools in our Commonwealth of Kentucky,\u201d Sen. Rand Paul said.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-votes-sen-rand-pauls-joint-resolution-disapproval-halt-sale-advanced-military-aircraft/", "Senate Votes on Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Joint Resolution of Disapproval to Halt Sale of Advanced Military Aircraft to Pakistan", "2016-03-10", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 By invoking the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, U.S. Senator Rand Paul forced a vote today in the Senate on S.J.Res.31, a joint resolution of disapproval to halt U.S. arms sales to the government of Pakistan. Prior to the vote, Sen. Paul delivered remarks urging his colleagues to support the joint resolution of disapproval, which would have stopped the sale of 8 F-16s and additional technical gear to the Pakistani government.\n\n24-71 voted in support of Pakistan not receiving F-16s.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. and Pakistani relationship has been a troubled one. Though the government of Pakistan has been considered America\u2019s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan\u2019s behavior would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cIn addition to Pakistan\u2019s duplicitous nature, it also has a deplorable human rights record. Pakistan often isolates and unjustly jails religious minorities and Christians to include Pakistani Christian Asa Bibi. Only after an international outcry did Pakistan commutes Asa Bibi\u2019s death sentence. In addition to Pakistan\u2019s support of terrorism and deplorable human rights record, it continues to imprison Dr. Shakil Afridi, who helped the U.S. locate and kill Osama Bin Laden,\u201d Sen. Paul continued.\n\nClick HERE to read the joint resolution of disapproval in its entirety.\n\nThe video and transcript of Sen. Paul\u2019s remarks can be found below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Paul: Pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, I move to discharge the Foreign Relations Committee from further consideration of S. J. Resolution 31 relating to the disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the government of Pakistan.\n\nPresiding Officer: The motion is debatable for up to one hour.\n\nSen. Paul: Madam President, I rise in opposition to the American taxpayers being forced to pay for fighter jets for Pakistan. Over $300 million from the American taxpayer will be designated to go to Pakistan to pay for eight new F-16s for Pakistan.\n\nWe\u2019ve got a lot of problems here in our country, my friends. We\u2019ve got a lot of things going on in our country that need to be taken care of, and we don\u2019t have enough money to be sending it to Pakistan. I can\u2019t in good conscience look away as America crumbles at home and politicians tax us to send the money to corrupt and duplicitous regimes abroad.\n\nWhen I travel across Kentucky and I see the look of despair in the eyes of out of work coal miners, when I see the anguish in the faces of those who live in constant poverty, I wonder why the establishment of both parties continues to send our money overseas to countries that take our money, take our arms and laugh in our face.\n\nWe\u2019ve given $15 billion to Pakistan, $15 billion over the last decade. And yet their previous president admits that Pakistan armed, aided, and abetted the Taliban. You remember the Taliban in Afghanistan that harbored and hosted bin Laden for a decade? Pakistan helped them. Pakistan was one of only two countries that recognized the Taliban.\n\nWhy in the world would we be taxing the American people to send this money to Pakistan? You remember when bin Laden escaped? We chased him and he escaped. Where did he go? To Pakistan. He lived for a decade in Pakistan. Where? About a mile away from their military academy. Somehow they missed him there in a 15-foot high walled compound, bin Laden stayed in Pakistan while we funnel billions upon billions of dollars to them.\n\nPakistan to this day is said to look away, to not look at the Haqqani network. In fact, it is accused that many members of their government are complicit with the Haqqani network. Who is the Haqqani network? It\u2019s a network of terrorists that kill Americans. We have American soldiers dying at the hands of Pakistani terrorists that the government looks the other way.\n\nGeneral John F. Campbell testified to Congress that the Haqqani network remains the most capable threat to U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, and yet you are asked to send F-16s and good money after bad to a government in Pakistan that looks the other way.\n\nPakistan is at best a frenemy, part friend and a lot enemy. If Pakistan truly wants to be our ally, if Pakistan truly wants to help in the war on radical Islam, it should not require a bribe. It should not require the American taxpayer to subsidize arms sales. They already have 70 F-16s. They\u2019ve got an air force of F-16s. What what would happen if we didn\u2019t send them eight more that we\u2019re being asked to pay for? Maybe they\u2019d listen. Maybe they would help us. Maybe they would be an honest broker in the fight against terrorism.\n\nWe are $19 trillion in debt. We borrow a million dollars a minute. We don\u2019t have any money to send to Pakistan to bribe them to buy planes from us. We don\u2019t have the money. We have problems at home. Our infrastructure crumbles at home. We have longstanding poverty at home. We\u2019ve got problems in America. And we don\u2019t have money to borrow the money from China to send it to Pakistan.\n\nIn my state, in Kentucky, we have a dozen counties with unemployment nearly double the national rate. In Magoffin county, Kentucky, 12.5% of people are out of work. Those who today will vote to send money to Pakistan need to come with me to Kentucky and they need to come to Magoffin county and they need to look people in the face who are out of work in America and explain to them why we should send money to Pakistan.\n\nWe\u2019ve got people hurting here at home. In Harlan county, the President\u2019s war on coal has led to long-standing, double-digit unemployment. In Harlan, Kentucky, people are out of work. People live in poverty, and they don\u2019t understand why Congress is sending money to Pakistan.\n\nIn Leslie county, high unemployment prompts their citizens to ask, \u201cwhy is the government spending billions of dollars for advanced fighter jets for foreigners?\u201d They don\u2019t understand it. They can\u2019t understand, when they live from day to day, why the government is sending money to Pakistan.\n\nAs I travel Kentucky, I ask my constituents, should America send money and arms to a country that persecutes Christians? I\u2019ve yet to meet a single voter who wants their tax dollars going to countries that persecute Christians.\n\nIn Pakistan, it is in their constitution that if you criticize the state religion, you can be put to death. Asia Bibi has been on death row for nearly five years. Asia Bibi is a Christian. Her crime: She went to the well to draw water, and the villagers began to stone her. They beat her with sticks until she was bleeding. They continued to stone her, as they chanted \u201cDeath! Death to the Christian!\u201d The police finally arrived, and she thought she\u2019d been saved, only to be arrested by the Pakistani police, and there she sits on death row for five years.\n\nIs it an ally, is it a civilized nation that puts Christians to death for criticizing the state religion? I defy any member of this body, go home, talk to the first voter, go outside the beltway, leave Congress and drive outside the beltway and stop at the first gas station, stop at the first grocery store and ask anybody, Republican, Democrat, Independent, you ask anybody, should we be sending money to a country that persecutes Christians?\n\nAsia Bibi sits on death row for criticizing the state religion, and your money goes to support her government. What will happen to Pakistan if they don\u2019t get eight more F-16s. They\u2019ll only have 70 F-16s. Most of the politicians here simply don\u2019t care. They don\u2019t care whether Pakistan persecutes Christians. They only know one way. The one way is to open our wallet and bleed us dry and hope that someday Pakistan will change its behavior.\n\nWell, guess what? If you\u2019re not strong enough to vote for this resolution, if you think that some kind of cajoling and flattery and nice talk with empty words is going to change the behavior of Pakistan, you\u2019ve got another thing coming. It\u2019s been going on for decades.\n\nWhen I forced a vote in the Foreign Relations Committee the to say that countries that put Christians to death for criticizing the state religion \u2013 there\u2019s about 34 of these countries, a couple dozen of them who receive money from us, American tax dollars going to countries that persecute Christians \u2013 when I introduced the amendment to say, guess what? Let\u2019s not do it anymore. Any country that has a law that compels a Christian and puts a Christian to death, that country would no longer receive our money.\n\nYou know what the vote was? 18-2 from Washington politicians that keep sending good money after bad, because they say, oh, the moderates there are going to change their minds someday. Well, after they bleed us dry, we\u2019ve given them $15 billion, and I have seen no evidence of a change of behavior.\n\nInsolence, arrogance, and people who laugh as they cash our check. Is Pakistan our ally in the war on terror? Well, not only did they help the Taliban that hosted bin Laden for a decade, when finally got bin Laden, we got him with evidence that was given to us by a doctor in Afghanistan. Where is he now? Pakistan has locked him away in a dark, dank prison from which he will probably never arrive out of, from which he will probably never be released.\n\nShakil Afridi has essentially been given a life sentence by Pakistan for the crime of helping the United States and helping all civilized nations get to bin Laden. He sat under the noses of the Pakistani government for a decade. We finally got him when Shakil Afridi helped us. People aren\u2019t going to continue to help America if we don\u2019t help them, if we don\u2019t protect our human intelligence, if we don\u2019t protect those who are willing to help America. He sits and rots in a prison.\n\nWhat message do we send to Pakistan if we send them eight more F-16s and we tell you, the American taxpayer, you\u2019re paying for it? What message does that send to Pakistan? The message is Pakistan is, we\u2019ll just keep thumbing our nose to America. And we\u2019ve laugh all the way to the bank as we do nothing to release the Christians on death row or to release the doctor who helped us.\n\nShould we give planes to a country that imprisons these heroes, heroes who helped and put their life on the line? Today we will vote on whether the American people should foot the bill. I have yet to meet a voter in my state of Kentucky or across America that thinks it\u2019s a good idea to send more money to Pakistan.\n\nWe have a $19 trillion debt. We borrower $1 million a minute. We have no money. It\u2019s not even a surplus. They say, oh, we\u2019re going to influence Pakistan. Or they may rise up. The revolution won\u2019t stop the money. The heck it won\u2019t. If my resolution becomes law, the eight jets will not go to Pakistan and be subsidized and not one penny of American tax dollars will go to Pakistan.\n\nWe have to borrow money from China to send it to Pakistan. Such a policy is insane and supported by no one outside of Washington. You go anywhere in America and ask them, should we give money, should the taxpayer be forced to give money to Pakistan, a country that persecutes Christians, nobody is for it.\n\nAnd yet the vast and out-of-touch establishment in Washington continues to do it. Is it any wonder people are unhappy with Washington? Is it any wonder that Americans are sick and tired of the status quo? Sick and tired of people not listening to them.\n\nWe have no money in the treasury. We are all out of money. This influences nothing other than to tell the Pakistanis they can continue doing what they want.\n\nI urge my colleagues to vote against subsidized sales of fighter jets to Pakistan, and I reserve the remainder of my time.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-king-introduce-legislation-support-local-meat-processing/", "Sens. Paul, King Introduce Legislation to Support Local Meat Processing", "2016-03-08", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "The PRIME Act would boost local foods movement by easing burdensome federal regulations\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation that would make it easier for small farms and ranches to provide locally-produced meats to consumers. The Processing Revival and Instrastate Meat Exemption Act, or PRIME Act, would give individual states the freedom to permit intrastate distribution of custom-slaughtered meat such as beef, pork, goat or lamb to consumers, restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and grocery stores.\n\n\u201cIn Maine, a growing number of consumers are looking to buy locally-produced meats. But as farmers try to match that increased demand, the most significant barrier is the capacity to have meat processed,\u201d Senator King said. \u201cIt simply defies logic that a Maine farmer has to send their animals halfway across the state when they just want to sell the meat next door. By providing states with the option to regulate the processing and local sale of meats, the PRIME Act will restore a measure of commonsense to the process, support Maine\u2019s farmers, and bolster the local foods movement, all while protecting consumer safety.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe PRIME Act will make it easier for farmers to sell and consumers to buy locally produced meat,\u201d Senator Paul said.\n\nUnder current law, the custom slaughter of animals is exempt from federal inspection regulations only if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, or employee use. That means in order to sell individual cuts of locally-raised meats, farmers and ranchers must first send their animals to one of a limited number of state or USDA-inspected slaughterhouses, which are sometimes hundreds of miles away, adding substantially to transportation costs and stress on the animals.\n\nAccording to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, there are five USDA-inspected and eight state-inspected meat processors in Maine. The PRIME Act would provide states with the option to develop and implement regulations creating a third Custom processor category for meats to be sold in-state. Doing so would help relieve the significant shortage of processing capacity and allow small farms, ranches, and slaughterhouses to thrive.\n\nThe legislation, which was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), is supported by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-scrutinizes-255-billion-federal-debt-interest-payments-costing-us-citizens-800/", "Sen. Rand Paul Scrutinizes the $255 Billion in Federal Debt Interest Payments Costing U.S. Citizens $800 Each", "2016-03-07", "2016", "2016-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThe latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 scrutinizes the federal government\u2019s $255 billion federal debt interest payment, which costs every American individually $800 dollars, just this year. The staggering amount of interest payments alone could fund Congress, the Federal Court System, and over 11 major government departments and agencies, but instead it buys absolutely nothing.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nYou probably have heard about the $19 trillion balance on the federal government\u2019s credit card and maybe even know your share is just over $60,000. However, you may not know about the interest on that debt. This year alone interest payments will be around $255 billion, which comes out to about $800 for each American alive today.[1] The President\u2019s budget anticipates $303 billion in interest next year, raising your share to $938, an increase of $148.[2]\n\nIt is worth noting what we could be doing with that money. Our $255 billion interest payment this year COULD have been used to fund the Departments of: Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, the EPA, NASA, NSF, the Small Business Administration, Congress and the U.S. Federal Courts \u2013 COMBINED.[3]\n\nSome think that perpetual deficits, and the debt they create, do not matter. John Maynard Keynes famously said, \u201c[t]he long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.\u201d[4] But even if we can perpetually put off paying for what we borrow, we cannot outlive or otherwise avoid paying interest. It is not due in the far off future, it is due right now, and will be due tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and it will never go away until the debt is paid off entirely. It is not left to our kids and grandkids; it is a burden, here, today.\n\nWorse still, interest payments do not pay for any things, not one salary, not one paperclip. The first $800 dollars you pay in taxes this year will simply buy nothing, and because our debt keeps growing, our interest burden keeps growing. This year alone, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects interest payments will jump 14 percent and will more than triple by the 2026.[5]\n\nAs bad as it is, it gets worse!!! Suppose we balance our budget, surely that would curtail wasteful interest spending. Not necessarily. As CBO notes, \u201c[i]nterest rates [which are near record lows] on federal borrowing are also expected to rise steadily over the next few years\u2026\u201d[6] As we all learned from the 2008 housing crisis, if you are just paying interest, even a modest rise in rates can blow up your budget. The only way to accommodate this is with higher taxes or reduced services, or worse still, borrowing more just to pay the interest on what we have already borrowed. In other words, taking a cash advance on one card to make the payment on another \u2013 at some point it all crashes down.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:47:03Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-16-million-federal-grant-flawed-dc-streetcar/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $1.6 Million Federal Grant to Flawed D.C. Streetcar", "2016-02-29", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nThe latest edition highlights the federal government awarding the D.C. streetcar $1.6 million in grants to help facilitate the expansion of the initial line. However, during the time the grants were given, the D.C. streetcar\u2019s initial leg of the project was already showing glaring signs of trouble and experiencing unprecedented delays.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nLast week the District of Columbia finally opened its calamitous streetcar to the public, years behind schedule and at a cost of $200 million.[1] Thankfully, \u00e5despite repeated attempts to get federal funds, the D.C. streetcar was built without federal taxpayer assistance. But not to worry, with this kind of boondoggle right in the federal government\u2019s back yard, Uncle Sam still found a way to waste your tax dollars.\n\nD.C.\u2019s District Department of Transportation was unsuccessful in getting federal dollars for the 2.2 mile line \u2013 of a whopping 37 mile plan \u2013 that opened last week, however, they did receive about $1.6 million from Uncle Sam to study expansion of the line in either direction. What makes this even more mindboggling is that the federal government awarded these grants in 2010 and 2012, when just the initial leg of the system had glaring signs of trouble.[2]\n\nOnly the federal government would shy away from investing in a troubled venture, while at the same time providing funding to help expand the same troubled venture. Lest you think it was two separate arms of the behemoth federal government not knowing what the other was doing, it was not. The same U.S. Department of Transportation that said \u201cno\u201d with one hand was cutting checks with the other.\n\nWhile streetcars are the current transportation fad, one must wonder why D.C. needs one in the first place. Some cities that lack rail transit systems have turned to streetcars, but D.C.\u2019s streetcar overlays its existing subways system, the Metro, which boasts approximately 40 stops within the district\u2019s boundaries, the Metro goes on to service VA and MD.[3]\n\nWhile the federal government was contributing to potential expansion of the streetcar above ground, serious safety issues were mounting literally under its feet. Uncle Sam first put money toward streetcar expansion just a year after the Metro\u2019s Fort Totten crash, which killed six and injured 70. And, as was noted in a Washingtonian expos\u00e9 last year, Metro suffers from systemic safety problems, which continue today.[4]\n\nThe $1.6 million could have been better used for Metro instead of expanding an already troubled and unneeded streetcar. And, while it is not the federal taxpayer\u2019s responsibility to fix Metro, Uncle Sam ponied up $150 million to the troubled system in last year\u2019s omnibus appropriations.[5]\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-joint-resolution-disapproval-halt-arms-sales-pakistan/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Joint Resolution of Disapproval to Halt Arms Sales to Pakistan", "2016-02-25", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul yesterday introduced S.J.Res.31, a joint resolution of disapproval to halt U.S. arms sales to the government of Pakistan. The joint resolution of disapproval, if passed, would stop the sale of 8 F-16s and additional technical gear to the Pakistani government.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. and Pakistani relationship has been a troubled one. Though the government of Pakistan has been considered America\u2019s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan\u2019s behavior would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cIn addition to Pakistan\u2019s duplicitous nature, it also has a deplorable human rights record. Pakistan often isolates and unjustly jails religious minorities and Christians to include Pakistani Christian Asa Bibi. Only after an international outcry did Pakistan commutes Asa Bibi\u2019s death sentence. In addition to Pakistan\u2019s support of terrorism and deplorable human rights record, it continues to imprison Dr. Shakil Afridi, who helped the U.S. locate and kill Osama Bin Laden,\u201d Sen. Paul continued.\n\nClick HERE to read the joint resolution of disapproval in its entirety.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-fort-knox-energy-security-act-amendment-senate-energy-bill/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces \u201cFort Knox Energy Security Act\u201d Amendment to Senate Energy Bill", "2016-02-24", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul yesterday introduced the Fort Knox Energy Security Act as an amendment to S.2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. The legislation would specifically allow the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to continue producing natural gas at Fort Knox in Kentucky, which ultimately would enable Fort Knox to become the only military installation capable of self-sustainment in the country. Sen. Paul previously introduced the legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in June 2015.\n\nFor the past 20 years, Fort Knox has worked to become the first military installation to provide their own power, heat, gas, water, and wastewater elimination all from on-post resources. In May 2015, Fort Knox successfully demonstrated their ability to fully operate without outside power assistance. However, if authority is not given, the investments Fort Knox has made to become self-sustainable will cease and energy costs for the DOD will increase.\n\n\u201cWhile the development of natural gas resources underlying federal lands is generally the responsibility of the Department of the Interior, the amendment would provide an exception for previously existing natural gas development at Fort Knox. Allowing the Department of Defense to produce natural gas at Fort Knox would not only be cost-effective for the government, but beneficial for the Fort Knox community,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nClick HERE to read the text of the Fort Knox Energy Security Act in its entirety.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-issues-letters-budget-committee-offering-waste-report-fy2017-budget/", "Sen. Rand Paul Issues Letters to Budget Committee Offering \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 to FY2017 Budget", "2016-02-23", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 As the Chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and author of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 Senator Rand Paul yesterday sent a letter to the Chairman of the Budget Committee Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) seeking to include and consider his findings of $1.12 billion of wasteful spending from \u2018The Waste Report\u2019 in the FY2017 budget.\n\nOver Sen. Paul\u2019s past five years serving in the Senate, the Senator has returned $2.4 million to the U.S. Treasury from money that was unspent from his official operating budget. As a champion of the taxpayers who has led by example, Sen. Paul has also shown it is possible to balance the budget by putting forth a five-year balanced budget plan.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found HERE or below.\n\nLETTER TEXT\n\nDear Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Sanders:\n\nAs Chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I am charged with examining all federal expenditures and protecting taxpayers from waste. In that capacity and pursuant to Section 301 (d) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974, this letter sets forth my views and estimates of the President\u2019s budget and current fiscal situation of the United States and I ask for your consideration and inclusion in the FY 2017 budget.\n\nThe Federal Government has racked up over $19 trillion in federal debt, over 100 percent of our nation\u2019s Gross Domestic Product. That comes out to over $60,000 per person alive today. Some believe we never have to pay this, that we can simply outlive and inflate away our debt burden. I do not share that view, but even those who do cannot ignore our interest burden. President Obama\u2019s budget assumes $303 billion in interest payments next year. That is almost $1,000 per person (including children) that must be paid this year and even more next year. We must balance our budget and begin paying down our debt. Our problems are real and cannot be ignored or glossed over.\n\nDuring my time in the Senate, I\u2019ve proposed three budgets that balance within 5 years. I believe this is a critical course of action and ask you to pursue the same. It means truly looking at the role of government and doing only what is within the Federal Government\u2019s charge as laid out in the Constitution.\n\nOn September 28, 2008 then Senator Obama said in the course of seeking the office he now holds, \u201c[a]nd when I\u2019m president, I will go line by line [through the budget] to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.\u201d The budget submitted on February 8, 2016 was President Obama\u2019s eighth and final budget. It is $618 billion, in real dollars (inflation adjusted) larger than when President Obama made that pledge. With a 20 percent increase in real spending, it is unfathomable that the President made any really attempted to live up to his campaign pledge to go through the budget line-by-line to eliminate unwise spending.\n\nFortunately, I and several other members of the Senate have been going through the budget line by line, identifying wasteful, unneeded, and ridiculous spending. My approach is to issue a report each week documenting just one example of wasteful government spending. Though some weeks we identify a boondoggle costing just a few thousand dollars in less than a year I have chronicled over $1.12 billion in clearly wasteful spending.\n\nDespite this, I was shocked to find that HR 2029 the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriation Act (which both of you and I voted against) actually increased funding for many of the agencies and programs where I and others have specifically found substantial waste.\n\nThis highlights a clear problem, there is a disconnect between the politics of spending and the responsibilities of governing. Some champion increased funding for science but ignore the National Science Foundation using the money it already has to fund a climate change video game to be used as propaganda, or their study of how to have to perfect first date, or when the National Institute of Health funds a conference on balding. We all want to support our Veterans, but we let them and every American down when returning solders are relegated to waiting lists while the VA finds somehow $8 million for solar panels it never used.\n\nThe list just goes on and on. Some rail against the cost of college yet never bat an eye at spending millions of dollars bringing foreign kids to America to attend our community colleges, but not for long enough to get an Associate\u2019s degree. Others have made a career advocating for education funding, pointing to outdated science labs and diminished sports programs; but those same advocates never give a second thought to why we are paying for Pakistani kids to go to Space Camp or funding a professional cricket league in Afghanistan. Some talk about the need for more funding to the military to build the best fighting force on the globe, but never ask how losing $29 million of heavy equipment or build historic models of Air Force bases does any good for our troop on the battle field.\n\nIt is hard to see how programs can be underfunded politically, while operationally they have money to burn. I hope you will take this waste of taxpayer dollars seriously. Former Budget Chairman, Senator Patty Murray often said a budget is more than numbers, that it is really a statement of our priorities as a nation. My staff has estimated that some 155,479 average American taxpayers saw their entire tax liability go to this wasteful spending last year, just on the waste I have exposed. When the government wastes money, is says to those hard working Americans who paid those tax dollars that they are not a priority. I hope you will make them a priority in this budget.\n\nI\u2019ve included each of my waste reports, including today\u2019s, at the end of this letter and have categorized them by budget function. I recognize the budget resolution cannot proscribe specific policies but rather sets overall functional totals and committee allocations. I recommend you incorporate a reduction in spending equal to these items of waste as you make your policy assumptions for each functional total and reflect those savings in the 302(a) committee allocations. In instances where a spending reduction is inappropriate, I recommend you include spending neutral, cap adjustments or reserve funds to facilitate greater oversight and program integrity activities.\n\nAdditionally, I recommend you incorporate to the extent possible, several process reforms. Earlier this year, I introduced the Legislative Performance Review Act of 2016, which aims at dealing with the over $300 billion in appropriations made each year to programs whose authorizations have expired. I recognize that not all of this spending is wasteful, but when programs have not been reviewed for over 30 years in some cases, it is hard to believe they are still as effective as when they were created if they ever were. This creates significant peril in the budget process; how can you make informed assumptions in building your budget when so much discretionary spending is left on autopilot? I believe it is appropriate, within the jurisdiction of the Senate Budget Committee, and the parameters of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to at the least include in a budget resolution a point of order to strike from appropriations acts spending that is not made pursuant to a current authorization.\n\nFurther, I want to draw your attention to end-of-year spending. Research has shown that spending the last week of the fiscal year is as much as five times higher than the average of the preceding 51 weeks. More troubling is that the last day of the fiscal year, and only that day, spending significantly moves to the Pacific Time Zone to allow three more hours of spending. The only possible reason for this is to expend funds before they expire and is clearly wasteful. I\u2019ve introduced legislation, The Bonuses For Cost-Cutters Act to afford federal employees, who see this waste first hand, a sort of whistleblower process run by Inspectors General to prevent this kind of waste. I ask that you make a policy assumption in Function 920 that reflects some level of saving that result from the adoption of this legislation.\n\nFinally, each year the Government Accountability Office issues a report on duplicative spending within the federal government. It is clearly wasteful to have multiple programs, each with their own overhead, working to combat the same problems. I ask that you assume some reduction in spending related to consolidation of duplicative spending. Just as important, is that Congress not create new duplication. I ask that you include in your resolution a direction to the Congressional Budget Office that they include in their cost estimates of legislation some assessment of the extent to which such legislation creates new duplication in the Federal Government, recognizing this will likely require them to coordinate with the Government Accountability Office. Since the Budget Committee has jurisdiction over CBO and both CBO and GAO are agencies of the Legislative Branch, I see no reason why such provision in a budget resolution would violate the budget law and could not be included in a concurrent resolution.\n\nI believe, with over $19 trillion in federal debt, we can no longer proceed with budgeting as usual. These cuts and reforms will not balance the budget, although that is in fact what we need to do. I have proposed three balanced budgets that show it can be done, and there are other plans worth reviewing such as your Penny Plan as well. The recommendations in this letter are just a few modest, but critical steps toward that end. We must go line-by-line to root out waste and we must be creative in how we budget. I hope you give these recommendations the seriousness of thought that I have given them and include them in your budget.\n\nSincerely,\n\nSenator Rand Paul, M.D.\n\nChairman-Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee\n\nHomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee\n\nFunction 050 National Defense\n\n$8,100,000* for study of people\u2019s email response habits \u2013 February 1, 2016\n\nNote: actual funding unknown funding cobbled together from multiple questionably related grants\n\nUniversity of Southern California (Los Angeles) \u2013 DOD\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-federally-funded-studies-on-e-mail-response-habits\n\n$29,000,000 of lost heavy equipment purchased for Afghan Army Corps of Engineers \u2013 January 28, 2016\n\nAfghanistan \u2013 DOD\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/special-edition-of-senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-dod-loss-of-29-million-of-heavy-equipment-in-afghanistan\n\n$40,000 on a model of Fairchild AFB for historic preservation purposes \u2013 January 25, 2016\n\nFairchild Air Force Base (Spokane, WA) \u2013 Airforce\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-40000-historical-model-of-usaf-base-is-model-of-government-waste\n\n$43 million for a Compressed Natural Gas station in Afghanistan- November 12th, 2015 (Special Report)\n\nAfghanistan- Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (Department of Defense)\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-special-edition-dods-43-million-gas-station-almost-no-one-can-use\n\n$218,000 to Investigate Mitigation of Invasive Burros \u2013 Sep 21st, 2015\n\nFt. Irwin, CA; Los Cruses, NM (New Mexico State University)- Department of Defense\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/invasive-burros-coyotes-and-waste-oh-my\n\nFunction 150 International Affairs\n\n$500,000 to register people involved in making Moldovan Wine (including peasant farmers) \u2013 January 19, 2016\n\nMoldova -USAID\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-uncle-sam-registering-wine-in-moldova\n\n$50,000 spent helping El Salvadorian deportees start businesses back home \u2013 January 4, 2016\n\nEl Salvador- Inter-American Foundation (USAID)\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-government-business-assistance-to-deported-illegal-immigrants\n\n$400,000 spent to combat over regulations in Armenia, while the U.S. adds 81 new major regulations (those costing the economy $100 million) each year. December 7, 2015\n\nArmenia- U.S. Agency for International Development\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-regulations\n\n$6 million to promote Albanian tourism \u2013 November 2nd, 2015\n\nAlbania \u2013 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)\n\nNote: the U.S. spends $100 million to promote U.S. Tourism.\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-albanian-tourism\n\n$15,070,000 to pay for foreign kids (including from India) to come to America for 1 year of community college, while also promoting community college in India with a picture show \u2013 October 26th, 2015\n\nWorldwide \u2013 Department of State\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/waste-report_-free-community-college-for-foreign-students\n\n$50,000 to finance a Jazz Band\u2019s Performance in Turkey \u2013 Aug 24th, 2015\n\nIstanbul, Turkey- Department of State\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/the-sweet-sweet-musical-styling-of-waste\n\n$250,000 for Pakistani Kids to attend Space Camp \u2013 Aug 10th, 2015\n\nIslamabad, Pakistan; Huntsville, AL; Pigeon Forge; TN- Department of State\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/sen-rand-paul-exposes-250k-taxpayer-funded-trip-to-space-camp-and-dollywood-for-foreign-kids-in-latest-the-waste-report\n\n$850,000 for a Professional Afghan Cricket League \u2013 June 8th, 2015\n\nAfghanistan- Department of State\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=92405DE8-C2DD-4226-86BB-34BE12961395\n\nFunction 250 General Science and Technology\n\n$30,000 to study the gambling habits of small business owners in Uganda \u2013 February 16, 2016\n\nUniversity of California (Berkeley) and Uganda \u2013 National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-national-science-foundation-study-on-ugandan-sports-gambling\n\n$2,500,000* for a study of the best practices on a first date \u2013 February 8, 2016\n\nNote: actual funding unknown funding cobbled together from multiple questionably related grants\n\nSanford University- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-government-funded-romance-research-project\n\n$150,000 Studying if poor students sabotage their own academic success in college \u2013 January 11,2016\n\nNorthwestern University- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-failing-for-fear-of-success\n\n$450,000 on a Climate Change Video Game for High Schools- November 30, 2015\n\nNote: the game is set 110 years in the future and intended to combat HS kids not buying into the climate catastrophe narrative the Administration wants them to.\n\nTampa Bay, FL; University of South Florida- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report_-climate-change-the-video-game\n\n$380,000 to study how friends contribute to weight-gain of college freshman (the Freshman 15) October 19th, 2015\n\nTempe, AZ (Arizona State University) \u2013 National Institutes of Health\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-finding-friends-to-fight-the-freshman-15\n\n$15,000,000 to Finance Private Research in Space, Including Golf Club Development \u2013 Oct 5th, 2015\n\nMelbourne, FL; International Space Station, Low Earth Orbit- National Aeronautics and Space Administration\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-paul-waste-report_-space-golf\n\n$350,000 to study Athletes in the \u201cZone\u201d \u2013 Sep 8th, 2015\n\nWest Lafayette, IN (Perdue University)- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/in-the-zone-a-perception-of-waste\n\n$175,950 for study of Feelings and Decision Making \u2013 July 14th, 2015\n\nIrvine, CA- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=1B0F25B6-A319-4A92-90ED-7B4BB146C6A0\n\n$188,000 for a Study of the History of Measurement \u2013 June 22nd, 2015\n\nGeorgia- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=979CA3C9-72BC-4392-AD43-80B9D960F774\n\n$850,000 for Winemaking classes at Community Colleges \u2013 June 16th, 2015\n\nWashington- National Science Foundation\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/waste-report-waste-vintage-2015\n\nFunction 270 Energy\n\n$50,000 for Cadillac of Treadmills \u2013 May 11th, 2015\n\nOakridge, TN- Department of Energy\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/nuclear-waste-department-of-energys-13k-treadmills\n\nFunction 300 Natural Resources and Environment\n\n$25,000 spent on the Smokey Bear laundromat \u2013 December 14, 2015\n\nLincoln National Forest (Ruidoso, NM)- National Forest Service\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-smokey-bear-laundry\n\n$100,000 to finance a \u201cFlower Show\u201d \u2013 Sep 28th, 2015\n\nPhiladelphia, PA- National Park Service\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/national-park-services-flower-show-a-blooming-waste\n\n$760,000 for Unneeded Sewer Upgrades in Small Town \u2013 July 20th, 2015\n\nRay, ND \u2013 Environmental Protection Agency\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/sen-rand-paul-finds-federal-taxpayers-downwind-of-small-town-sewer-debacle-in-latest-the-waste-report-\n\nFunction 350 Agriculture\n\n$50,000 spent to promote Christmas trees as a specialty crop \u2013 December 21, 2015\n\nGeorgia \u2013 Department of Agriculture\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-christmas-edition\n\n$72.5 million in Specialty Crop Marketing Grants- November 21, 2015\n\nNote: USDA list 300 specialty crops, like apples and blueberries, and only 32 non-qualified crops.\n\nNationwide- United States Department of Agriculture\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/sen-rand-paul-releases-special-thanksgiving-edition-of-the-waste-report\n\n$158,000,000 for School Lunch Money Spent on Lawn Sprinklers \u2013 Aug 8th, 2015\n\nLos Angeles, CA- Department of Agriculture/Los Angeles Unified School District\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/school-lunch-money-paying-for-lawn-sprinklers\n\n$370,000,000 for Crop Flood Insurance in seasonal wetlands \u2013 June 29th, 2015\n\nDakotas & Minnesota- Department of Agriculture\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=C0F05C69-E13D-4B68-A9CA-581ECC105BD9\n\nFunction 370 Commerce and Housing Credit\n\n$40,000 to provide Satellite TV onboard a NOAA Ship \u2013 Aug 31st, 2015\n\nPacific Ocean- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Commerce)\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/sen-rand-paul-highlights-thousands-of-taxpayer-dollars-spent-on-premium-satellite-tv-for-noaa-ship\n\nFunction 400 Transportation\n\n$1,200,000 for \u201cMedical\u201d Vacations \u2013 May 5th, 2015\n\nAlaska (Tourist Destination including Vail, CO and Orlando, FL)- Coast Guard\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/medical-waste-coast-guard-medical-vacations\n\nFunction 450 Community and Regional Development\n\n$50,000,000 to Pay for Disaster Damages also Covered by Insurance \u2013 Aug 17th, 2015\n\nNationally- Federal Emergency Management Agency\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/fema-discover-this-disaster-twice\n\nFunction 500 Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services\n\n$25,000 for a Hollywood Movie Museum \u2013 July 6th, 2015\n\nLos Angeles, CA- National Endowment for the Arts\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=9795257D-AACB-4403-8FA6-4C65285A9EBC\n\n$7,700 for 3-day Email Class \u2013 May 18th, 2015\n\nWashington, D.C.- Department of Education\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/youve-got-waste-240/hr-e-mail-class\n\nFunction 550 Health\n\n$15,000 on a Balding Conference- November 16, 2015\n\nMiami, FL \u2013 National Institute of Health-Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-pauls-waste-report-15000-grant-for-conference-on-balding\n\nFunction 570 Medicare\n\n$175 million on Medicare overpayments for Sleep Apnea Studies- November 9th, 2015\n\nOrlando, FL & Nation Wide- Center for Medicare Services (HHS)\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/dr-rand-paul-exposes-medicare-overpaying-an-estimated-175-million-on-sleep-apnea-studies-in-latest-the-waste-report\n\nFunction 600 Income Security\n\n$104,000,000 for Non-poor People to live in Public Housing \u2013 July 27th, 2015\n\nNationally- Department of Housing and Urban Development\n\nNote: this includes millionaires and person who own other homes\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/millionaires-living-in-public-housing\n\nFunction 700 Veterans Benefits\n\n$8,000,000 for Unused Solar Panels \u2013 June 1st, 2015\n\nLittle Rock, AR- Veterans Affairs\n\nNote: these were never used because shortly after completion they were torn down to build a parking garage\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=26916A67-1514-4E94-B23C-28186EE448B0\n\nFunction 750 Administration of Justice\n\n$54,000,000 in Extended Temporary Duty compensation for persons on assignment more than a year. \u2013 February 22, 2016\n\nNationwide- Department of Justice\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/senator-rand-pauls-waste-report-government-waste-an-extended-stay\n\nFunction 800 General Government\n\n$150,000 for Yoga Classes for Federal Employees \u2013 Sep 14th, 2015\n\nNationally- Various Agencies including State, Energy, & Railroad Retirement Board\n\nhttp://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/federally-financed-yoga-bendstretch-waste\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-questions-sec-john-kerry-foreign-relations-committee-fy2017-state-department/", "Sen. Rand Paul Questions Sec. John Kerry at Foreign Relation\u2019s Committee on FY2017 State Department Budget", "2016-02-23", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today attended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to question Secretary of State John Kerry on the FY2017 State Department Budget request. During the hearing, Sen. Paul emphasized the need to cut wasteful, frivolous spending from the budget, while maintaining a strong national defense. Additionally, Sen. Paul questioned Sec. Kerry on President Obama\u2019s failed foreign policy in Syria.\n\nA video of the exchange can be found below.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL REMARKS AT SFRC HEARING\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-doj-subsidizing-54-million-temporary-travel-spanning-more-year/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights DOJ Subsidizing $54 Million on \u201cTemporary Travel\u201d Spanning for More than a Year in Latest Edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2016-02-22", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government. The latest edition highlights the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) subsidizing over a year\u2019s worth of food and lodging for employees to \u201ctemporarily travel\u201d, instead of moving to the new location for work. With 60 instances of temporary assignments spanning for more than 2 years, including one temporary assignment that lasted for 12 years, the DOJ has cost the taxpayer over $54 million dollars.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nWhen a federal employee travels on official business, the government pays the cost of meals and lodging for that worker \u2013 within certain limitations. Which sounds reasonable, until you learn that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has spent at least $54 million on expenses for employees who have been on \u201ctemporary travel\u201d for one year or more.[1]\n\nAfter 90 days on assignment at one location an employee goes on Extended Temporary Duty (ETDY), which it is actually supposed to save money by reducing lodging and meal allowances by 25 percent. [2] However, the DOJ Inspector General\u2019s (IG) looked at the ETDY program at the DOJ and what they found was abuse and absurdity.\n\nThe IG identified 60 instances where temporary assignments lasted more than 2 years, including one assignment that lasted 6 years and another for 12 years. In another instance, the IG found that a married couple both working for the DOJ relocated to Washington, D.C. One spouse transferred and received relocation assistance while the other received ETDY compensation.[3]\n\nThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alone accounts for 95 percent of all DOJ employees on ETDY. Why so many? Out investigating crimes in remote locations? Not quite, the ETDYs at the FBI are almost entirely due to the Headquarters Staffing Initiative (HIS), which allows employees from across the country to do an 18-month rotation at FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C. Technically employees can choose to transfer, but most take ETDY because their lodging is tax exempt and is easily more than how much their pay would increase under D.C. locality pay.[4]\n\nAside from the loose definition of \u201ctemporary\u201d that seems to be used at DOJ, the tax treatment of ETDY compensation is worth noting. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations say that employer provided lodging and a meal while on travel are nontaxable, unless your temporary assignment is for one year or more, or is expected to be for one year or more. In other words, the IRS says if your employer is sending your somewhere for a year, IT\u2019S A MOVE, NOT A BUSINESS TRIP.\n\nThere is only one group the IRS rule does not apply to: federal law enforcement, prosecutors, and support staffs are exempted until they have been on ETDY for two years. [5] Seems almost like a special carve out for DOJ and the HSI program.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-issues-letters-urging-speedy-and-thorough-investigation-cincinnati-va-hospital/", "Sen. Rand Paul Issues Letters Urging Speedy and Thorough Investigation at Cincinnati VA Hospital", "2016-02-19", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul issued three separate letters today to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the VA Office of Inspector General, and the VA Office of the Medical Inspector urging the officials to conduct a thorough investigation into the reports of mismanagement and negligence at the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Sen. Paul believes our nation\u2019s veterans deserve the utmost care and attention, and will continue to monitor the situation until the issue is resolved.\n\n\u201cReports of mistreatment of veterans and misconduct by officials at the VA hospital in Cincinnati are disturbing and must be thoroughly investigated. I am monitoring this situation closely, and I urge the Inspector General and VA to complete their investigations swiftly and take decisive action on the findings,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nThe full text of the letters can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-highlights-30000-nsf-study-ugandan-sports-gambling-latest-edition-waste-report/", "Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $30,000 NSF Study on Ugandan Sports Gambling in Latest Edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2016-02-16", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government. The latest edition highlights a $30,000 study, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), that researched the prevalence of entrepreneurs, in the country of Uganda, seeking to generate revenue for their business through sports betting.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nEvery year, it is estimated that sports betting generates as much as a $1 trillion in revenue worldwide.[1] Maybe you have even put a few dollars down on a game yourself, but even if that is not the case, the federal government is using $30,000 of your taxes to bet on a study of Ugandan gambling practices.[2]\n\nThe study, being conducted out of the University of California-Berkeley and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is part of a doctoral dissertation \u2013 a student\u2019s research \u2013 aimed at exploring the prevalent practice among Ugandan entrepreneurs seeking business capital through sports betting.\n\nIt is hard to see what benefit the U.S. taxpayer gets out of funding research on Ugandan gambling, but the study, and NSF\u2019s funding of it, seems all the more ridiculous when we consider why small business owners are betting in the first place.February 16/ RADCLIFF TOWN HALL\n\ning lgng practices. ing in oundation (NSF) e Begley of WANV, Brian O\u2019\n\nEarlier research found that nearly half of men in the \u201cinformal\u201d sector participate in sports betting, which is legal in Uganda,[3] and this study seeks to build on that by exploring the effects gambling has on business. Of course, \u201cinformal sector\u201d is a nice way to say black market.\n\nIn fact, nearly 60 percent of the entire Ugandan non-farm workforce is employed in the black market.[4] Given that banks are generally hesitant to make loans to unlicensed businesses, it should not be a surprise to anyone that these entrepreneurs are seeking financing through non-traditional means.\n\nMore than that, black markets are a natural outgrowth of excessive government manipulation of the economy, [5] which makes operating outside the law preferable. With such a large a black market in Uganda, it should be obvious that the government is having a larger negative impact on business and families than gambling. Perhaps the better area to look into is what specific government policies are driving so many Ugandan business underground.\n\nIn any case, this should be the concern of the people and government of Uganda, not the U.S. taxpayer.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-calls-end-presidents-abuse-sanction-waivers/", "Sen. Rand Paul Calls to End the President\u2019s Abuse of Sanction Waivers", "2016-02-11", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On the U.S. Senate floor yesterday, Senator Rand Paul introduced amendment #3301 to the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement bill, which calls to end abuse of sanction waivers by the President.\n\nBelow is the video and transcript of Sen. Paul\u2019s remarks.\n\nCLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH\n\nTRANSCRIPT\n\nSen. Paul: For some time now, power has been gravitating from the Legislature to the President. Many in Congress, including myself, have been critical of the President\u2019s Executive overreach. However, Congress bears some of the responsibility and bears some of the blame in that this body continues to abdicate and transfer its power to the President. Nowhere is this more obvious than in foreign policy.\n\nDuring the debate over the Iranian agreement to end sanctions, many congressional voices lamented that these sanctions were enacted by Congress and should not be unilaterally ended by the President without congressional approval. As many observers, though, noted Congress has only itself to blame. For decades now, Congress has granted the President national security waivers to just about anything. These allow the Executive to do what they want, to terminate sanctions, or continue spending without any new vote of Congress.\n\nA good example was when Egypt was overtaken by a military regime. This was not a democratic government. This became a military junta. Our laws on foreign aid said that Egypt should no longer receive foreign aid if they are not a democratically elected government. And yet the President continues to give foreign aid to Egypt because he simply uses a waiver that we wrote into the legislation. This is a mistake to continue to grant so much power to the presidency, and as we\u2019ve done so we\u2019ve abdicated our own power.\n\nFor decades now Congress has granted the President national security waivers on just about everything. The waivers are so flimsy and so open-ended, as that all he has to do is write a report and claim that it affects national security, and he can do whatever he wants. Then Congress complains because the President is doing an overreaching, and yet we give him the very power.\n\nLooking back at the North Korea sanctions, we find President Clinton removed sanctions by using the national security waiver Congress provided him. Furthermore, about a decade later, President George W. Bush did the same thing, relieving sanctions against North Korea by taking advantage of national security waivers.\n\nJump ahead to the Iran agreement, and you find President Obama using national security waivers provided by Congress to unilaterally repeal Iranian sanctions without congressional authority. In fact, President Obama has utilized congressionally provided loopholes 40 times to remove Iranian sanctions. Everybody complains, and now we\u2019re going to do the same thing.\n\nWe\u2019re going to write a sanction bill with the exact same boilerplate language that we\u2019ve had in the previous sanctions bills which will allow the President the leeway to end the sanctions if he desires. When we fast forward to these new North Korean sanctions before us, the new sanction bill does exactly what previous sanctions bills have done, namely, provide the President with the power to simply claim any nonspecific national security claim to waive sanctions.\n\nCongressional critics of the President\u2019s use of national security waivers to end the Iranian sanctions should decide now that they have no leg to stand on should a future President do exactly that with North Korean sanctions and remove them without congressional approval.\n\nThere are two examples. Clinton has done this and so has George W. Bush. I propose that Congress take back their power. I propose that Congress not cede more power to the presidency. I therefore ask unanimous consent to call up my Amendment 3301 at the desk which would remove national security waivers and take back the power to Congress where it belongs.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-statement-supreme-court-ruling-epa-regulations/", "Sen. Rand Paul Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on EPA Regulations", "2016-02-10", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the following statement applauding the Supreme Court\u2019s decision to temporarily halt President Obama\u2019s regulations on the coal industry:\n\n\u201cIt is encouraging that the Supreme Court halted one of President Obama\u2019s most destructive anti-coal rules, which would be devastating to Kentucky\u2019s coal industry and our nation as a whole. This is good news and hopefully will lead to a permanent stop on this regulation. It also underscores the need to pass the REINS Act that I introduced last year, which would require all major regulations, just like this one, to come before Congress for a vote and would certainly allow Congress to stop them,\u201d Sen. Paul said.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-introduces-fort-knox-energy-security-act/", "Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Fort Knox Energy Security Act", "2016-02-09", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today introduced S.2523, the Fort Knox Energy Security Act. The legislation would specifically allow the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to continue producing natural gas at Fort Knox in Kentucky, which ultimately would enable Fort Knox to become the only military installation capable of self-sustainment in the country. Sen. Paul previously introduced the legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in June 2015.\n\nFor the past 20 years, Fort Knox has become the first military installation to provide their own power, heat, gas, water, and wastewater elimination all from on-post resources. In May 2015, Fort Knox successfully demonstrated their ability to fully operate without outside assistance. However, if authority is not given, the investments Fort Knox has made to become self-sustainable will cease and energy costs for the DOD will increase.\n\n\u201cWhile the development of natural gas resources underlying federal lands is generally the responsibility of the Department of the Interior, the Fort Knox Energy Security Act would provide an exception for previously existing natural gas development at Fort Knox. Allowing the Department of Defense to produce natural gas at Fort Knox would not only be cost-effective for the government, but beneficial for the Fort Knox community,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nEarlier this month, Sen. Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter expressing their concern for any effort by the Obama administration to further reduce Army end strength, which could impact the military installations in Kentucky, including Fort Knox. Sens. Paul and McConnell sent two previous letters to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel voicing their concerns with the proposed Army cuts. Both letters can be found HERE and HERE.\n\nIn January 2015, Sen. Paul participated in the Fort Knox and Fort Campbell community listening sessions and spoke in favor of protecting and expanding Army personnel at both Kentucky bases. Following Sen. Paul\u2019s participation in the listening sessions, Sen. Paul voted in favor of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), introduced by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), which would require the Army to maintain a minimum of 32 brigade combat teams in the regular and reserve components. Since 2013, Kentucky has absorbed a disproportionate amount of active duty Army reductions and transfers at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell. Had it passed, the amendment would have prevented any further elimination of brigade combat teams in Kentucky and across the country, however, it failed with a vote of 26-73.\n\nAlso in August 2013, Sens. Paul and McConnell, and Representative Brett Guthrie (R-KY) sent a letter to Army Secretary John M. McHugh encouraging the relocation of the Army Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) following the deactivation of 3/1 Brigade Combat Team at Fort Knox. The letter can be found HERE.\n\nClick HERE to read the Fort Knox Energy Security Act in its entirety.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-nsf-funded-romance-research-project-costing-taxpayers-25-million-latest/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers NSF Funded Romance Research Project Costing Taxpayers $2.5 Million in Latest Edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2016-02-08", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nJust in time for Valentine\u2019s Day, the latest edition calls attention to a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded study that looked at speed dating to determine how to have the perfect first date \u2013 all costing the taxpayer as much as $2.5 million.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nThis Sunday is Valentine\u2019s Day, when old soldiers of the love wars will be buying flowers and going to dinner celebrating their affinity for each other. Perhaps for you Valentine\u2019s Day is an opportunity to find new love; and if you\u2019re nervous and unsure about talking to a love interest, not to worry, Uncle Sam has some tips for you\u2026 and you paid for them.\n\nThat\u2019s right!!! The National Science Foundation (NSF) helped fund a 2013 Stanford University study, Making the Connection: Social Bonding in Courtship Situations. According to one of the researchers, \u201cWe wanted to see if there is anything about the interaction that matters or is it really just what I look like, what I do, what my motivation is.\u201d[1]\n\nConsidering online dating is a $2 billion industry, it seems like Uncle Sam should leave this subject to experts like eHarmony.[2] And, maybe they meant to. The study cites three NSF grants, which contributed to this project, totaled a whopping $2.5 million.[3] As absurd as it is for tax dollars to go to finance a study of how to \u201cclick\u201d with someone of the opposite sex, we do not even know how much of this money found its way to romance research, but it certainly does not seem to have been the intended use of your tax dollars.\n\nNone of NSF\u2019s grant synopses make any mention of romance or dating. One grant was aimed at discovering how \u201cideas are created and propagated through scientific communities, how these communities are formed and change over time, and how multidisciplinary networks spanning these communities shape scientific innovation.\u201d[4] Apparently there must have been some confusion about what \u201cchemistry\u201d means.\n\nThis highlights a problem we identified in last week\u2019s The Waste Report about a Department of Defense funded study on how long it takes people to open an e-mail. In both cases, once money went out the door, and for other purposes, the government had trouble keeping track of it downstream, allowing money to be shaved off for frivolous, unintended research.\n\nSo, since you paid for it, what did we learn? Well, according to the study, which used speed dating as its point of reference, women are pickier than men when choosing a mate. Both sides are more interested if conversation focuses on the lady, but women do not like answering lots of questionS. Men don\u2019t like it when ladies use words like \u201ckinda, sorta, and probably,\u201d but they are attracted a woman that mixes it up by speaking quickly and with inflection.[5]\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-statement-more-coal-job-losses-kentucky/", "Sen. Rand Paul Statement on More Coal Job Losses in Kentucky", "2016-02-01", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "BOWLING GREEN, KY \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the following statement on the Kentucky Quarterly Coal report just released by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. The report details a record low in coal mine employment, with 3218 jobs lost in 2015 alone \u2013 a nearly 28% decrease from 2014.\n\nYou can view the report HERE.\n\n\u201cPresident Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency have been dead set on destroying Kentucky\u2019s coal industry at any and all costs, and our Commonwealth is continuing to suffer as a result. They have continued to impose outrageous and suffocating regulations upon one of Kentucky\u2019s most important industries while ignoring the negative consequences for our coal miners and their families. I have tirelessly fought against Obama\u2019s liberal, job-killing War on Coal, and I will continue to do so while proposing new solutions like Economic Freedom Zones to help these struggling coal communities,\u201d Sen. Paul said.\n\nNo related posts.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-federally-funded-study-e-mail-response-patterns-latest-waste-report/", "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers Federally Funded Study on E-mail Response Patterns in Latest \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2016-02-01", "2016", "2016-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Rand Paul today released the latest edition of \u2018The Waste Report,\u2019 which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government. The latest edition uncovers the federal government spending an untold amount of taxpayer dollars to research how individuals respond to e-mail communication. Funding for this research was cobbled together from multiple million dollar grants that do not appear to have ever been intended to go to this research.\n\n\u2018The Waste Report\u2019 can be found HERE or below.\n\nFrom transacting business, to making social plans, to sharing information, e-mail has become a fast and convenient way to communicate. Sometimes, e-mails get ignored. What should not be ignored is that the federal government spent taxpayer money to study people\u2019s e-mail response habits.\n\nA new federally-funded study out of the University of Southern California (USC) identified all sorts of trends in how people respond to e-mail communication, including 90% of replies come within two days, while almost half come within an hour of being received. People respond fastest from their phone, but those e-mails are often short. Men reply slightly faster than women, and the older you are the longer it takes to reply to an e-mail.[1]\n\nWhile all of this is fascinating information, the question remains, why is funding this in the taxpayers\u2019 interest? In fact, it is not clear how much funding this project even got or if it was the intent of the federal government do this research in the first place.\n\nThe problem is this is a downstream project, funded by cobbling together money from several large federal grants. The study cites three federal funding sources: the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Air Force Office of Strategic Research (ADOSR). But the grant numbers cited are large, $6.1 million from DARPA and over $2 million from ADOSR[2], and generically about human cognitive and social media behaviors. ADOSR\u2019s grant did not even go directly to USC, in fact this grant\u2019s primary recipient was cross-town rival, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[3]\n\nE-mail responses do not even seem to be in the purview of the parent grants. In fact, the Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program at DARPA states that it, \u201c\u2026seeks to develop tools to support the efforts of human operators to counter misinformation or deception campaigns with truthful information.\u201d[4] The NSF grant synopsis says, \u201cThis project will analyze patterns of citation networks in three domains \u2013 physics papers, patents and federal court decisions \u2013 to learn how scholars and innovators discover and evaluate knowledge.\u201d\n\nBut instead of looking at Facebook memes that might incite social unrest or physics papers, funding got shaved off and cobbled together from multiple federal grants to research e-mail response patterns. This only goes to highlight a problem the federal government has with all sorts of large grants; difficulty keeping tabs on money as it moves downstream.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T20:44:24Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 114, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "KY", "p2": "2016"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 114, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016&party=Republican", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 114, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2016", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016", "results": [{"value": "KY", "label": "KY", "count": 114, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2016", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016", "results": [{"value": "2016", "label": "2016", "count": 114, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2016-02-01,https~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Epaul~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fnews-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-federally-funded-study-e-mail-response-patterns-latest-waste-report~2F", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2016&_next=2016-02-01%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Epaul~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fnews-sen-rand-paul-uncovers-federally-funded-study-e-mail-response-patterns-latest-waste-report~2F&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 211.15383366122842, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}