{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"KY\" and year = 2018 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-2018-festivus-edition-waste-report/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases 2018 \u2018Festivus\u2019 Edition of \u2018The Waste Report\u2019", "2018-12-21", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 21, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released his 2018 Festivus edition of The Waste Report, an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s Festivus Waste Report, now in its fourth year, shines a spotlight on some of the wasteful spending and misplaced priorities that have helped the federal government place taxpayers on the hook for a debt that is rapidly closing in on $22 trillion.\n\nHighlights include: providing over $76 million in stipends to soldiers in the Somali National Army, devoting over $650,000 to develop a drama series to air in Afghanistan, spending up to $1 million on helping support and develop the legislative process in Libya, and setting aside $18 million to support tourism in Egypt.\n\nYou can find Dr. Paul\u2019s 2018 Festivus edition of The Waste Report, which totals up over $114 million in waste, below:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-retirement-paradise-fossil-plant-would-be-contrary-tvas-mission-have-dire/", "Dr. Rand Paul: Retirement of Paradise Fossil Plant Would Be \u2018Contrary\u2019 to TVA\u2019s Mission, Have \u2018Dire\u2019 Economic Impact", "2018-12-20", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 20, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nBOWLING GREEN, KY \u2013 Yesterday, as part of his continued efforts to defend Kentuckians from federal overreach, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) submitted official comments to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) regarding its environmental assessment on the potential retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant in Muhlenberg County, which it issued shortly before Thanksgiving.\n\n\u201cThe retirement of Paradise would be detrimental to the local economy of Muhlenberg and its negative impact would be felt throughout the surrounding counties. Such action would not only prolong the war on coal, picking winners and losers in the energy sector, but it would also be contrary to the core mission of TVA to provide reliable, low-cost energy to those in its service area. It is for these reasons I ardently oppose the retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in the introduction to his comments.\n\nFor the past several months, Dr. Paul and his staff have actively engaged in discussions with Kentuckians, officials in Muhlenberg County, and the TVA regarding the status of Unit 3, the last coal-fired unit at the Paradise Fossil Plant.\n\nOn December 4, Dr. Paul called for Kentuckians to make their voices heard by joining him in filing a comment with the TVA.\n\nBelow you can find Dr. Paul\u2019s entire introduction, along with a summary of his comments:\n\nIntroduction to Dr. Paul\u2019s Comments\n\n\u201cOn behalf of my constituents, I write in strong opposition to the potential retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. In 2013, I joined other members of the Kentucky congressional delegation urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to maintain its use of coal for electricity generation at Paradise Units 1 and 2. At the time, Paradise employed 400 full-time employees and generated $13.19 million in tax receipts in 2012 for the Muhlenberg area. After the Supreme Court\u2019s 2015 ruling regarding the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards regulation, I again joined my fellow Kentuckians in voicing support of maintaining operations at Paradise Units 1 and 2. Our fears that retiring Units 1 and 2 would cut the Paradise workforce in half were realized in 2017 as the doors of Units 1 and 2 closed.\n\n\u201cToday, Paradise Unit 3 directly employs 131 full-time employees and indirectly impacts hundreds more jobs from the miners who supply coal and limestone to Unit 3 to the trucking companies who deliver approximately 200 truckloads of coal to Paradise each day.[1] The retirement of Paradise would be detrimental to the local economy of Muhlenberg and its negative impact would be felt throughout the surrounding counties. Such action would not only prolong the war on coal, picking winners and losers in the energy sector, but it would also be contrary to the core mission of TVA to provide reliable, low-cost energy to those in its service area. It is for these reasons I ardently oppose the retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant.\u201d\n\nSummary of Dr. Paul\u2019s Comments\n\n\u201cThe Paradise facility aids both the mission and purpose of TVA in helping provide reliable, low-cost energy to those living in the Tennessee River Valley, and promoting economic development throughout the service area. Retiring Paradise would be contrary to that mission. Additionally, Paradise plays a vital role in the economies of Muhlenberg and the surrounding counties, facts not fully accounted for in the Environmental Assessment. The draft Environmental Assessment released in November poses only two options for Paradise: (1) maintain Paradise as is, or (2) completely retire it. Neglecting additional alternatives would be short-sighted considering the dire economic consequences that would result from retirement. For these reasons I urge the TVA Board to maintain the use of coal-fired electricity generation at the Paradise Fossil Plant and stop all plans for its retirement.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-syria-diplomacy-and-president-trump-bringing-troops-home/", "Dr. Rand Paul on Syria, Diplomacy, and President Trump Bringing Troops Home", "2018-12-19", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Tonight, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) took to the Senate floor to object to legislation that would prolong the conflict in Syria and hinder their rebuilding process.\n\nIn his brief remarks, Dr. Paul thanked President Trump for bringing American troops home from the war-torn country, a decision Dr. Paul has long advocated for as part of his efforts to restore a focused and constitutional foreign policy. Dr. Paul also called for a shift to diplomacy instead of new sanctions.\n\n\u201cToday, President Trump announced that we have won the war against ISIS in Syria. Our troops are coming home. Thank you, Mr. President. The Syrian Civil War is largely over, but Syria\u2019s a mess and desperately needs reconstruction. These sanctions will delay and possibly prevent reconstruction of Syria and the beginning of a healing time. Now is the time for diplomacy. There are many actors, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, the U.S., and others, but this is the time for diplomacy, not for new sanctions. So I object,\u201d Dr. Paul said on the Senate floor.\n\nYou can find video of tonight\u2019s remarks HERE.\n\nIn another speech on the Senate floor earlier today, where he also called for greater oversight of the Deep State, Dr. Paul addressed the Washington mentality that has weakened our national security and led politicians to keep U.S. troops perpetually tied up in conflicts all over the world, saying, \u201cMost of the voices around here like to stay everywhere for all time, and they believe that it doesn\u2019t work unless you go somewhere and stay forever.\u201d\n\nIn contrast, Dr. Paul observed that President Trump \u201chas the courage to say, \u2018We won in Syria, and we\u2019re coming home.'\u201d On multiple occasions, Dr. Paul has encouraged President Trump to focus on an America-First policy, which would include bringing troops home from multiple locations in the Middle East, including Syria and Afghanistan.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s earlier comments on Syria HERE, and you can find his entire speech from this morning HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-proud-president-syria/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul: \u2018Proud of the President\u2019 on Syria", "2018-12-19", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 At the conclusion of his remarks this morning on the need to increase oversight of the Deep State, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed today\u2019s news that President Donald J. Trump will withdraw American troops from Syria, a decision Dr. Paul has long advocated for to help return the United States to a common-sense foreign policy and avoid forcing our troops to stay without end in yet another country.\n\nOn multiple occasions, Dr. Paul has encouraged President Trump to focus on an America-First policy, which would include bringing troops home from multiple locations in the Middle East, including Syria and Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud of the president today to hear that he is declaring victory in Syria. Most of the voices around here like to stay everywhere for all time, and they believe that it doesn\u2019t work unless you go somewhere and stay forever. The president has the courage to say, \u2018We won in Syria, and we\u2019re coming home.\u2019 First president in my lifetime really to do that. And that\u2019s why President Trump is different, and that\u2019s why I think President Trump is one that we should all look to for some changes and for some reform of the Deep State,\u201d Dr. Paul stated on the floor.\n\nBefore his speech, Dr. Paul also responded to the news on Twitter, saying, \u201cI am happy to see a President who can declare victory and bring our troops out of a war. It\u2019s been a long time since that has happened.\u201d\n\nYou can find video of Dr. Paul\u2019s remarks HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymidr-rand-paul-senate-floor-deep-state-needs-more-oversight/", "ICYMI:Dr. Rand Paul on the Senate Floor: \u2018The Deep State Needs More Oversight\u2019", "2018-12-19", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Shortly before the U.S. Senate held a procedural vote on an intelligence community nomination this morning, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke on the need for greater oversight of the Deep State.\n\nDr. Paul specifically cited the secretive drone strike program\u2019s \u201cpower to kill anyone, anywhere, anytime\u201d as \u201can ominous power\u201d and called out the lack of checks and balances. He noted that only a select few in Congress are briefed on intelligence matters, even then often being told only after the fact.\n\n\u201cWhat happens is you get imperfect and not very good oversight. The checks and balances are not working because the only people being told about what the intelligence community is doing are the people who are rubber stamps for what they are doing,\u201d Dr. Paul stated on the floor.\n\nDr. Paul also discussed how he has not received answers, including from the nominee, to a simple question: does the United States kill people around the world based on metadata? He noted that his objection to cloture was not based on the individual being nominated but on the need for an answer to this question and greater accountability.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been holding this nominee and will vote against this nominee because I believe that the Deep State needs more oversight. I believe that we shouldn\u2019t kill anyone, anywhere, anytime around the world without some checks and balances. I also believe that our drone program, our targeted killing, actually makes the country less safe and makes us more at risk for terrorism,\u201d Dr. Paul said in his speech.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s entire speech HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-applauds-historic-senate-passage-first-step-act/", "Sen. Rand Paul Applauds Historic Senate Passage of First Step Act", "2018-12-18", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 18, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Tonight, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the U.S. Senate\u2019s passage of the First Step Act (S. 756), a bipartisan sentencing and prison reform bill. The bill passed by a vote of 87-12 and is headed to the U.S. House for passage before being sent to President Trump\u2019s desk, where he is expected to sign this important legislation into law.\n\nSince arriving in the U.S. Senate in 2011, Senator Paul has been passionate about reforming a broken criminal justice system. Having introduced countless bipartisan bills in previous Congresses and once again in this Congress, Senator Paul will continue to advocate for more change on this matter across the political aisle.\n\n\u201cAs a leading voice for criminal justice reform who has introduced and cosponsored nearly a dozen bipartisan bills to fix the problems that still plague our justice system, and someone who has loudly and successfully pushed for getting this important piece of legislation to the Senate floor for a vote, I am absolutely thrilled with tonight\u2019s passage of the First Step Act,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cTrue to its name, this prison and sentencing reform bill is a much-needed first step toward shifting our focus to rehabilitation and reentry of offenders, rather than taking every person who ever made a mistake with drugs, locking them up, and throwing away the key.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-historic-senate-action-end-us-support-war-yemen/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Historic Senate Action to End U.S. Support for the War in Yemen", "2018-12-13", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 13, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted 56-41 to pass S.J. Res. 54. For the first time since the Vietnam War, the Senate voted to prevent a president from involving the U.S. in war.\n\n\u201cToday, in an historic vote, the Senate sent a clear message to Saudi Arabia that we will not turn a blind eye to their abuse of human rights, killing of dissidents and innocent Yemenis, and fueling of a humanitarian crisis. Since entering the Senate, I have spoken out against Congress\u2019 abdication of its constitutional responsibilities in foreign policy, and I have worked across the aisle to help build the bipartisan consensus that made its voice loudly heard today. I will continue working to ensure that today\u2019s victory is just the beginning of a long-awaited change in how Congress operates.\u201d\n\nOver the past five years, Dr. Paul has spoken out and led multiple bipartisan efforts against U.S. involvement in Yemen. Most recently, in November, he forced a procedural vote on his resolution that would have blocked the sale of an estimated $300 million in high-explosive rocket artillery and associated training and support to Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led coalition waging the war in Yemen.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-senate-taking-criminal-justice-reform/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Senate for Taking Up Criminal Justice Reform!", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell announced the Senate would take up the bipartisan First Step Act:\n\n\u201cHaving led the fight on criminal justice reform for the past six years, I applaud Senator McConnell for scheduling this very important vote. This is bipartisan, has the support of President Donald J. Trump, and, simply put, makes common sense. I have worked in a bipartisan fashion and introduced six different pieces of criminal justice legislation to help bring much-needed reform to our system, and I look forward to passing this in the Senate as soon as possible.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-trump-administration-proposal-would-protect-kentucky-farmers-and-coal/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Trump Administration for Proposal that Would Protect Kentucky Farmers and Coal Miners", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposal to overturn a bureaucratic power grab by the Obama administration and redefine the \u201cWaters of the United States\u201d (WOTUS) in a manner mirroring legislation Dr. Paul previously introduced to help protect Kentucky farmers and coal miners:\n\n\u201cThe current, overly burdensome \u2018Waters of the United States\u2019 rule from the Obama administration places significant hardships on states, landowners, and farmers, granting broad federal control over water, and I have long called and worked for action to protect Kentuckians and all other Americans from its effects. As part of those efforts, I have previously introduced the Defense of Environment and Property Act, which I will reintroduce before the end of this Congress, to provide a permanent statutory fix for this issue. I applaud the Trump administration for its action today to revise the definition of WOTUS and provide needed clarity on the scope of federal water jurisdiction.\u201d\n\nIn 2015, the Obama administration\u2019s WOTUS rule significantly expanded the definition of waters in the U.S. to include non-navigable waters, certain dry land, drains, ditches, small ponds, and even depressions in fields that are only wet after heavy rains.\n\nAlong with cosponsoring S.J. Res. 22 in 2015, which would have nullified the WOTUS rule, Dr. Paul introduced his Defense of Environment and Property Act that same year to define \u201cnavigable waters\u201d as navigable-in-fact and relatively permanent bodies of water. Earlier this year, during Senate consideration of the Farm Bill, Dr. Paul and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) offered an amendment that would have repealed the WOTUS rule.\n\nBackground on EPA/Army Corps of Engineers Proposal:\n\nProposed Revised Definition of \u201cWaters of the United States\u201d:\n\nClearly defines \u201cWaters of the United States\u201d as:\n\nTraditional navigable waters;\n\nTributaries of such waters;\n\nCertain ditches;\n\nCertain lakes and ponds;\n\nImpoundments of otherwise jurisdictional waters; and\n\nWetlands adjacent to other jurisdictional waters.\n\nEliminates the \u201csignificant nexus test\u201d\n\nYou can read the Trump administration\u2019s proposed revised definition here and a summary here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-blasts-tva-proposed-closure-western-kentucky-coal-fired-plant/", "Sen. Rand Paul Blasts TVA for Proposed Closure of Western Kentucky Coal-Fired Plant", "2018-12-04", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 4, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nBOWLING GREEN, KY \u2013 For the past several months, U.S. Senator Rand Paul and his staff have actively engaged in discussions with Kentuckians, officials in Muhlenberg County, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) regarding the status of Unit 3, the last coal-fired unit at the Paradise Fossil Plant. Throughout discussions regarding TVA\u2019s entire generating fleet being placed under review, no mention of a potential retirement of Paradise Unit 3 was made. Recently, however, TVA issued a draft Environmental Assessment on the potential retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant.[1]\n\nToday, Senator Paul released the following statement condemning the move and calling for action to help protect Kentuckians\u2019 livelihoods from federal overreach:\n\n\u201cIt is absolutely unacceptable that unelected government bureaucrats can single-handedly decide which types of energy Kentuckians\u2019 hard-earned tax dollars should support and ultimately be allowed to determine the fate of entire local economies without any accountability.\n\n\u201cNot only are the livelihoods of the over 130 Kentuckians employed at Unit 3 at stake, but also at risk are the trucking companies who bring coal into the plant, as well as the many related businesses and industries in Muhlenberg County. While the need to maintain a diversified energy production fleet that is efficient and profitable is understandable, the federal government has no business picking winners and losers in Kentucky\u2019s energy sectors.\n\n\u201cWhen I met with Kentucky State Representative Melinda Gibbons Prunty, community leaders, and other fellow Kentuckians in Central City in October, I listened to their concerns about Paradise and promised to advocate on their behalf, which is why I will be filing a comment to TVA\u2019s draft Environmental Assessment and sending a letter to the TVA Board along with other members of the Kentucky delegation. I strongly urge all Kentuckians to join us in filing comments.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nIn August, Kentucky State Representative Melinda Gibbons Prunty spoke with a member of Senator Paul\u2019s staff at the Kentucky Farm Bureau\u2019s breakfast in Louisville and conveyed the concerns of her constituents in Muhlenberg. Since the first week of September, Senator Paul\u2019s office has been in continuous communication with TVA, pressing for answers as to their intentions for Unit 3 and ultimately the fate of the Paradise Fossil Plant.\n\nIn October, Senator Paul\u2019s office met with TVA\u2019s Senior Vice President of Power Operations, Vice President of Government Relations, and Senior Washington Representative of Government Relations. TVA\u2019s representatives stated they were supporters of coal and planned for at least 20% of their energy production to be generated from coal for the next decade. As stated above, no mention of a potential retirement of Paradise Unit 3 was made during the discussion of the TVA\u2019s entire generating fleet being placed under review. TVA then proceeded to release its draft Environmental Assessment on the potential retirement of the Paradise Fossil Plant just before Thanksgiving.\n\nThe TVA Board of Directors will ultimately be the entity to decide whether or not to retire Paradise Unit 3, and when the TVA Board meets again in February to take action on this issue, it will still be one member short. President Trump nominated John Ryder to be a Member of the Board of Directors in February of this year. Mr. Ryder has submitted all the necessary paperwork, testified in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and been favorably reported from the Committee. However, Mr. Ryder\u2019s nomination still awaits final confirmation by the Senate. Given the time sensitive nature of this situation, Senator Paul urges Leader McConnell to bring Mr. Ryder\u2019s nomination to the Senate floor for a vote before the end of the year and fill this vacancy.\n\nKentuckians may submit comments directly to TVA HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-pauls-push-legalization-industrial-hemp-included-farm-bill/", "Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Push for Legalization of Industrial Hemp Included in Farm Bill", "2018-11-29", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 29, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 For over six years, U.S. Senator Rand Paul has led the charge to legalize industrial hemp in Kentucky and across the country. Today it was announced that a deal in principle had been reached for the 2018 Farm Bill, which includes a provision to legalize hemp. Sen. Paul released the below statement celebrating the most recent victory in his fight for Kentucky\u2019s hemp industry:\n\n\u201cFrom being the lead Republican cosponsor of a bipartisan bill to legalize industrial hemp in 2012 \u2013 the very first hemp bill in the Senate, to convincing my colleagues in Congress to support the deregulation of this vital resource, to pushing the Food and Drug Administration to declassify its status as a Schedule I drug, I\u2019ve been proud to lead the charge on the legalization of industrial hemp from day one, and am grateful for the support of Kentucky\u2019s federal delegation and leaders in Frankfort,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cToday\u2019s good news has truly been years in the making, from testifying in front of Kentucky\u2019s General Assembly in 2013 in support of legalizing this crop and creating a hemp pilot research program, to years of introducing and cosponsoring legislation on this issue and demanding big government get out of the way so Kentucky farmers can succeed. I\u2019m happy to see that we are closer than ever to truly removing the regulatory barriers standing in the way of the Commonwealth reaping the economic benefits of this crop, and look forward to continuing my efforts on this issue.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-welcomes-senate-debate-ending-us-support-war-yemen/", "Dr. Rand Paul Welcomes Senate Debate on Ending U.S. Support for the War in Yemen", "2018-11-28", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 28, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted 63-37 to discharge S.J. Res. 54, which would end U.S. support for the war in Yemen, from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and bring it to the Senate floor for debate:\n\n\u201cI applaud the Senate for taking action today to ensure a long-overdue debate on the Senate floor over ending the United States\u2019 unauthorized support for the devastating war in Yemen. With thousands upon thousands of innocent lives lost in Yemen, and millions living on the edge of famine, we must send a clear message that this is not what America stands for, and I welcome a robust debate on ending our involvement in the war, stopping arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and restoring Congress\u2019 voice in foreign policy.\u201d\n\nPreviously, Dr. Paul has led multiple bipartisan efforts to stand against U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen by blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, he forced a procedural vote on his resolution that would have blocked the sale of an estimated $300 million in high-explosive rocket artillery and associated training and support to Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led coalition waging the war in Yemen.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-condemns-war-yemen-senate-floor/", "Dr. Rand Paul Condemns War in Yemen on Senate Floor", "2018-11-15", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 15, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul (R-KY) condemned the war and growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen on the Senate floor, where he urged support for S.J. Res. 65, his resolution of disapproval to block the sale of offensive weapons and support to Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led coalition waging the devastating war in Yemen.\n\nThe war has led to the death of thousands of innocent civilians and left millions of Yemenis on the edge of famine.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m only saying stop one sale of arms to send a message that we are done with the war in Yemen. That we are no longer going to sell weapons to countries that are fighting this war in Yemen. That the war must come to a close,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his speech.\n\n\u201cIt must stop. Someone must take a stand and say, \u2018Enough\u2019s enough. We are against the humanitarian disaster in Yemen,'\u201d he later added.\n\nUnfortunately, the Senate voted against taking a stand to help stop the loss of innocent life in Yemen.\n\nAmid growing international calls to end the war in Yemen, Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution would have blocked the sale of an estimated $300 million in high-explosive rocket artillery and associated training and support to Bahrain.\n\nThe Arms Export Control Act of 1976 provides the special procedures whereby a senator can force a vote on an arms sale. Dr. Paul has previously led multiple bipartisan efforts to stand against U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen by blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul speak against the war in Yemen on the Senate floor below:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-sen-rand-paul-calls-asylum-asia-bibi-has-discussed-president-trump/", "ICYMI: Sen. Rand Paul Calls for Asylum for Asia Bibi, Has Discussed with President Trump", "2018-11-15", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 15, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) appeared on \u201cCNN Right Now\u201d with Brianna Keilar to discuss his support for granting asylum to Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, who was charged with blasphemy after a disagreement with neighbors, ultimately resulting in her imprisonment, conviction, and subsequent sentencing to death row.\n\nWhile the Pakistani Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi in October 2018, pushback has left her fate uncertain, and she remains in Pakistan. Earlier this week, Senator Paul discussed the importance of the U.S. granting her asylum directly with President Donald J. Trump.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been fighting for them to free Asia Bibi. I\u2019ve talked to the President about granting her asylum and refugee status here,\u201d Senator Paul stated in the interview, later adding, \u201cI\u2019m worried that she won\u2019t survive.\u201d\n\nDuring the interview, Senator Paul also discussed his opposition to the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s war in Yemen.\n\nYou can watch Senator Paul\u2019s entire interview below:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-secures-senate-vote-sale-weapons-bahrain/", "Dr. Rand Paul Secures Senate Vote on Sale of Weapons to Bahrain", "2018-11-14", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 14, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced he has secured a vote to proceed to S.J. Res. 65, his resolution of disapproval to block the sale of offensive weapons and support to Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led coalition waging a devastating war in Yemen that has killed thousands of innocent civilians and left millions of Yemenis on the edge of famine.\n\nThe Senate is expected to vote early Thursday afternoon.\n\n\u201cThis vote is about more than yet another arms sale. The Senate has a chance to stand up for innocent life, speak out against a humanitarian tragedy that is getting worse by the day, and demonstrate it will not support further destruction in Yemen,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nAmid growing international calls to end the war in Yemen, Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution would block the sale of an estimated $300 million in high-explosive rocket artillery and associated training and support to Bahrain.\n\nThe Arms Export Control Act of 1976 provides the special procedures whereby a senator can force a vote on an arms sale.\n\nDr. Paul has previously led multiple bipartisan efforts to stand against U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen by blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-gillibrand-introduce-bill-protecting-pregnant-women-federal-custody/", "Sens. Paul, Gillibrand Introduce Bill Protecting Pregnant Women in Federal Custody", "2018-11-14", "2018", "2018-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 14, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will introduce the Pregnant Women in Custody Act of 2018 to help guarantee the health and safety of women who are pregnant and give birth while in federal custody, as well as to encourage states to pursue reforms that would ensure adequate protections for such inmates.\n\nThe bill would prohibit the use of restraints and restrictive housing on pregnant federal inmates and incentivize states to adopt similar practices by leveraging existing federal assistance programs. It serves as a companion to H.R. 6805, introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA) and Mia Love (R-UT) in September 2018.\n\n\u201cWhile debates over the best ways to address problems in our criminal justice system have been occurring for years, there are some reforms that are just common sense, like protecting the health of pregnant incarcerated women and their unborn children. An incarcerated individual is still a human being whose life deserves to be valued and protected, which is why our proposal prohibits the use of restraints on pregnant federal inmates, particularly when they are in labor, and ensures these women are treated with compassion and respect as they bring new life into the world,\u201d said Senator Paul.\n\n\u201cPregnancy and childbirth take an enormous physical toll on women\u2019s bodies and require consistent medical attention, but in many states across our country, incarcerated pregnant and postpartum women are often restrained and placed in solitary without access to adequate medical and nutritional care. This inhumane and archaic treatment of pregnant women and new mothers is why I am proud to introduce the Pregnant Women in Custody Act of 2018,\u201d said Senator Gillibrand. \u201cThis legislation would create and uphold a national standard of care for mothers who are serving their time in an already flawed criminal justice system in dire need of reforms. Congress should be protecting and valuing mothers wherever they are in our society, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan legislation.\u201d\n\nOver 2,000 women give birth while in custody each year. During the course of their pregnancies and in postpartum recovery, a majority of pregnant inmates are placed in restraints and restrictive housing, even during labor. The use of such restraints can lead to muscle tears, bone separation, blocked blood circulation, and miscarriage. Placing pregnant inmates in restrictive housing creates a risk of mental and physical harm from a lack of medical and nutritional care.\n\nWhile 25 states and the District of Columbia have already restricted the use of restraints on pregnant inmates, no federal law exists prohibiting that practice.\n\nYou can find more background on this bipartisan legislation below, and you can read the entire bill below.\n\nThe Pregnant Women in Custody Act of 2018:\n\n\u2022 Ensures access to resources necessary to meet the unique needs of pregnant women;\n\n\u2022 Ensures the Bureau of Prisons captures accurate data on the health care needs of pregnant inmates, while also prohibiting the cataloging of personally identifiable information;\n\n\u2022 Prohibits the use of restraints on pregnant and postpartum inmates (up to eight weeks postpartum), unless she poses an immediate risk of escape or physical harm to herself or others; and\n\n\u2022 Encourages reform at the state level by providing for a preference in grant funding for states who have enacted or implemented services or pilot programs aimed at enhancing the safety and wellness of pregnant inmates.\n\no This bill does not call for new funding but rather provides incentives by asking the Department of Justice to prioritize awards from existing grant programs to states who have made these changes.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:10:16Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-pauls-kentucky-priorities-included-water-infrastructure-bill-signed-law-president/", "Sen. Paul\u2019s Kentucky Priorities Included in Water Infrastructure Bill Signed in Law by President", "2018-10-25", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 25, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the following statement applauding President Trump for signing the America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 into law, which includes several of Sen. Paul\u2019s Kentucky priorities, including those to solve issues at Rough River Lake and Lake Cumberland:\n\n\u201cAfter years of work advocating on behalf of the Rough River Lake and Lake Cumberland communities, I was proud to have my legislative provisions solving their issues included in the water infrastructure bill, and I am thrilled that the President has now signed it into law. These types of victories for our Commonwealth come from listening to the needs of Kentuckians and working together to find solutions. I remain committed to always defending Kentucky from government overreach, and I look forward to sharing the good news with these communities in person very soon.\u201d\n\nROUGH RIVER LAKE PROVISION \u2013 From Day 1, beginning in January of 2017 when the issue first arose, Sen. Paul and his staff have led the charge on behalf of the Rough River Lake community and their conflict with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the implementation of the Corps\u2019 Flowage Easement Encroachment Resolution Plan. Over the past 21 months, Sen. Paul has held multiple in-person meetings in Kentucky with affected residents, held several meetings with Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James to ask for assistance in resolving this and other Kentucky issues, introduced amendments to prevent fees from being imposed on residents, and directed his staff to hold office hours in the community. Knowing how important this issue was, Sen. Paul refused to support the original water infrastructure bill while it was being constructed in committee until until his provisions were included, and he succeeded. The final language included in the Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 prohibits the imposition of administrative fees around Rough River Lake and provides for the reimbursement of those fees to eligible property owners.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nRough River Lake Flowage Easement Encroachment Resolution Plan:\n\nThis plan, which the previous Army Corps director signed in the final days of the Obama administration, has been a bureaucratic and financial nightmare for residents around Rough River Lake. Last year, the Corps notified hundreds of residents that their homes are in or below the Corps\u2019 easement around the lake, and that the residents are each responsible for paying thousands of dollars in administrative fees, survey fees, and possible costs of structural relocation to comply with the Corps\u2019 demands related to the easement. This is due to the Army Corps improperly measuring their easement around the lake in the 1950s, allowing decades of construction around the lake without any notice to residents, and waiting until 2017 to tell residents that their homes were in violation of their easement.\n\nLAKE CUMBERLAND PROVISION \u2014 Similar to his actions on Rough River Lake, Sen. Paul has long been advocating for the Lake Cumberland area cities and businesses that were faced with the prospect of paying fees to use water from the lake (which they had already been using for years). Furthermore, the unaffordable fees would have been passed on to residents, which was an unfair tax. Over the past several years, Sen. Paul has held many roundtables and town halls in Kentucky with affected businesses and residents, community leaders, and local officials to try and solve this problem. In addition to asking Assistant Secretary R.D. James for assistance with this issue during their meetings and through correspondence, Sen. Paul has introduced numerous amendments and legislation to block the fees. He secured language in this year\u2019s water infrastructure bill, and prevents the Secretary of the Army from charging a fee for surplus water if the contract is for surplus water stored in the Lake Cumberland Watershed.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nLake Cumberland\n\nFor many years, the Corps has been attempting to begin a process, which will lead to fees on surrounding cities and businesses that use Lake Cumberland for their water supply. A major concern is that entering into long-term water supply contracts with the Corps will result in unaffordable costs being passed onto residents around Lake Cumberland \u2014the $600 million price tag of rehabilitating Wolf Creek Dam is still fresh on their minds. This has been an issue at other lakes around the state, too, including Laurel River Lake and Barren River Lake.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-discusses-more-american-tax-dollars-going-libya/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Discusses More American Tax Dollars Going to Libya", "2018-10-23", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Kristine Frazao to discuss the U.S. State Department spending up to $1 million of American taxpayer money on helping support and develop the legislative process in Libya.\n\n\u201cIt sort of boggles the mind to think that our government is going to spend money in Libya teaching them how to have good governance, good legislating. They don\u2019t even have one government over there. They have two or three governments that are fighting each other,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can learn more and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-president-trumps-swift-action-correct-unfair-international-mail-system/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds President Trump\u2019s Swift Action To Correct Unfair International Mail System", "2018-10-17", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 17, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded President Donald Trump for taking steps to end implicit American subsidization of foreign merchants and help reduce costs for both the United States Postal Service (USPS) and private shippers, with the administration announcing its intent to withdraw from the Universal Postal Union (UPU).\n\n\u201cI am glad that President Trump listened to our concerns on the UPU and is taking swift action to end this unfair advantage for foreign companies that comes at the expense of American workers,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe State Department will pursue negotiations during the withdrawal process over the next year as the administration keeps the option open to remain in the UPU if shortcomings can be addressed.\n\nIn May 2018, Dr. Paul sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, chairman of President Trump\u2019s Task Force on the United States Postal Service, urging action to correct the competitive disadvantages and security vulnerabilities caused by the UPU, which leaves American businesses and entrepreneurs often paying higher shipping rates than many of their overseas competitors.\n\nUnder the UPU, which was originally intended to facilitate timely global mail service among its 192 member countries, set rates (known as \u201cterminal dues\u201d) are paid to a foreign postal service for the delivery of the country of origin\u2019s mail in a receiving country.\n\nIn addition to discussing how the existing terminal dues system \u201cseverely\u201d distorts the market and places Americans at a \u201cdistinct disadvantage\u201d in his letter to Secretary Mnuchin, Dr. Paul also remarked on the security concerns facing the United States under the UPU, noting that \u201cforeign postal services are not required to follow the same customs and security processes that are imposed on other international shippers.\u201d\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s letter to Secretary Mnuchin below:\n\n***", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-legislation-stopping-us-military-aid-saudi-arabia/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Legislation Stopping U.S. Military Aid to Saudi Arabia", "2018-10-11", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced legislation to cut off U.S. military aid and assistance to Saudi Arabia until U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determines that missing American resident and Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi is alive and free.\n\n\u201cTime and again, clear evidence has proven that sending American taxpayer support to Saudi Arabia is not in our national security interest and instead helps further destabilize the Middle East. My bill gives Congress another chance to take a stand,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nKhashoggi was last seen alive entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018, where Turkish authorities believe he was murdered.\n\nThe legislation marks the latest effort by Dr. Paul to prevent U.S. taxpayers\u2019 support from going to a nation that has supported terrorists around the world, has a poor record on human rights, and has used questionable tactics in a war in Yemen that has left thousands of civilians dead and millions of Yemenis on the edge of famine.\n\nUsing special procedures authorized by the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, Dr. Paul has previously led multiple, bipartisan efforts to block U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and forced Senate votes on the issue in September 2016 and June 2017.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s entire bill stopping aid to Saudi Arabia below:\n\n***\n\nTo prohibit military aid to Saudi Arabia until the Secretary of State determines that Jamal Khashoggi is alive and free.\n\nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,\n\nSection 1. Restriction on Military Aid to Saudi Arabia\n\nThe United States Government shall not provide any military aid or assistance to the Government of Saudi Arabia until the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that journalist Jamal Khashoggi is alive and free and subsequent legislation is enacted authorizing the resumption of such aid and assistance.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-paul-urges-cfius-review-proposed-broadcom-acquisition/", "ICYMI: Dr. Paul Urges CFIUS to Review Proposed Broadcom Acquisition", "2018-10-11", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), urging the Committee \u201cto review the proposed acquisition of CA Technologies by Broadcom,\u201d citing the need to ensure America\u2019s national security is protected. Dr. Paul has also sent copies of the letter to President Trump and the other Committee members.\n\n\u201cCA Technologies provides support services to American critical infrastructure systems. For example, CA Technologies offers mainframe software and maintenance to American utilities, healthcare companies, and financial institutions. Additionally, the company provides network services to the U.S. Army, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the Social Security Administration, among others. Clearly, CA Technologies is relied upon to handle and protect extremely sensitive information,\u201d Dr. Paul wrote.\n\nAccording to the Treasury Department, \u201cCFIUS is an interagency committee authorized to review certain transactions involving foreign investment in the United States (\u2018covered transactions\u2019), in order to determine the effect of such transactions on the national security of the United States.\u201d[1]\n\nIn his letter, Dr. Paul pointed to CFIUS\u2019 action earlier this year to prevent Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm based on national security concerns, going on to state, \u201cSimply because Broadcom recently moved its domicile to the United States does not mean that it is no longer a Chinese-controlled company or that the national security concerns previously expressed by CFIUS no longer persist. Given the circumstances surrounding the proposed takeover of CA Technologies by Broadcom, a CFIUS review is entirely appropriate.\u201d\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s entire letter to Secretary Mnuchin below:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-paul-questions-fbi-director-phone-surveillance-president-trump/", "ICYMI: Dr. Paul Questions FBI Director on Phone Surveillance of President Trump", "2018-10-10", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 10, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 During today\u2019s U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on \u201cThreats to the Homeland,\u201d U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray on whether the FBI is exploiting access to foreign intelligence surveillance databases for purposes of gathering information on American citizens without a warrant, including journalists, members of Congress, and even President Trump himself. Unfortunately, Director Wray refused to directly answer.\n\n\u201cThe point from those of us who believe we need more privacy control is that we\u2019re concerned that the FBI, thousands of agents across the country, could be looking at conversations about domestic crime or about anything, perhaps, without a warrant,\u201d Dr. Paul stated, later reiterating the importance of maintaining critical constitutional protections to prevent abuse of access to Americans\u2019 sensitive information.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why we continue to argue that these [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] databases \u2014 any of these foreign databases \u2014 that if you\u2019re going to look in them \u2026 they should call a judge and get a warrant. That way, we don\u2019t allow bias to enter into this,\u201d Dr. Paul further commented.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s remarks and exchange with Director Wray HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-passes-water-infrastructure-bill-sen-rand-pauls-kentucky-priorities/", "Senate Passes Water Infrastructure Bill with Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Kentucky Priorities", "2018-10-10", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 10, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul applauded the U.S. Senate for passing S. 3021, the America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018, which included all three of his Kentucky priorities for this bill. The legislation passed the Senate by a 99-1 vote.\n\nSenator Paul released the following statement:\n\n\u201cFighting for Kentucky\u2019s priorities in Congress is one of my most important duties, and one I take very seriously. It\u2019s why I am incredibly proud to be one of the very few senators to have secured all of my Kentucky-related priorities for inclusion in this bill, and I am thrilled with its passage today. Today\u2019s good news comes after years of work on behalf of the Rough River Lake, Lake Cumberland, and other affected communities, and it is truly great to see these efforts have yielded a positive result. I look forward to standing by my commitment to always put Kentucky first and continuing my steadfast defense of our land, our waterways, and you from government intrusion.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nThe America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018 is a response to President Trump\u2019s call for major reinvestments in American infrastructure, particularly water infrastructure. AWIA directs the actions of the Army Corps of Engineers and authorizes major water infrastructure projects that benefit most states \u2013 key projects such as deepening nationally significant ports, maintaining inland waterways, upgrading dams and irrigation systems, and increasing water storage. The bill also:\n\n\u2022 Sets up a process to deauthorize $4 billion worth of previously authorized studies for projects that currently lack local support or have an outdated purpose\n\n\u2022 Notes funding authorization modifications for the potential removal of Green River and Barren River Locks and Dams in Kentucky\n\n\u2022 Directs the Corps to list studies that have not received funding in 10 years and solicit public and state government comment\n\n\u2022 Includes Senator Paul\u2019s Kentucky priorities:\n\n\u25e6 Lake Cumberland \u2013 Prevents the Secretary of the Army from charging a fee for surplus water if the contract is for surplus water stored in the Lake Cumberland Watershed.\n\n\u25e6 Rough River Lake \u2013 Prohibits the imposition of administrative fees around RRL and provides for the reimbursement of those fees to eligible property owners.\n\n\u25e6 Freedom to Fish \u2013 The Freedom to Fish Act, which became law in 2013, prevents the Corps of Engineers from taking certain actions to create a new restricted area prohibiting public access to waters downstream of a dam or other civil works structures in the Cumberland River basin. This provision extends Freedom to Fish by five years once AWIA (S. 3021) is signed into law.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-invokes-cloture-water-infrastructure-bill-sen-rand-pauls-kentucky-priorities-1/", "Senate Invokes Cloture on Water Infrastructure Bill with Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Kentucky Priorities", "2018-10-09", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 9, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul applauded the U.S. Senate for invoking cloture on S. 3021, the America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018, which included all three of his Kentucky priorities for this bill. In a recent video update to Kentuckians, Senator Paul said the following:\n\n\u201cFighting for Kentucky\u2019s priorities in Congress is one of my most important duties, and one I take very seriously. It\u2019s why I am incredibly proud to be one of the very few senators to have secured all of my Kentucky-related priorities for inclusion in the recent water infrastructure bill.\n\n\u201cYou may be familiar with some of these issues, like the provision to extend Freedom to Fish. I certainly have spoken with many of you over the past several years as we\u2019ve worked together to stop big government from claiming control over your land and waterways.\n\n\u201cIn addition to Freedom to Fish, I worked to ensure a provision was included to block the Army Corps from imposing water usage fees on the residents and businesses around Lake Cumberland. As I heard at many town hall meetings I\u2019ve held in Somerset and other cities around Lake Cumberland, Kentuckians should not be forced to pay a tax for using water they\u2019ve used for years.\n\n\u201cLastly, the inclusion of language to address the issue at Rough River Lake \u2014 where the Corps was trying to force residents to pay outrageous fees to fix a problem the Corps created in the first place. This is something of great importance to me. I led this fight, and I refused to give up.\n\n\u201cAfter many meetings with community members in Grayson County, listening sessions, correspondence with Corps leadership, and the introduction of amendments to fix this problem, I\u2019m absolutely thrilled that my request to prevent the Corps from imposing fees on Rough River Lake residents was included in the final bill.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to have kept my commitment to always put Kentucky first and look forward to continuing my steadfast defense of our land, our waterways, and you from government intrusion.\u201d\n\nYou can watch the video HERE.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nThe America\u2019s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018 is a response to President Trump\u2019s call for major reinvestments in American infrastructure, particularly water infrastructure. AWIA directs the actions of the Army Corps of Engineers and authorizes major water infrastructure projects that benefit most states \u2013 key projects such as deepening nationally significant ports, maintaining inland waterways, upgrading dams and irrigation systems, and increasing water storage. The bill also:\n\nSets up a process to deauthorize $4 billion worth of previously authorized studies for projects that currently lack local support or have an outdated purpose\n\nNotes funding authorization modifications for the potential removal of Green River and Barren River Locks and Dams in Kentucky\n\nDirects the Corps to list studies that have not received funding in 10 years and solicit public and state government comment\n\nIncludes Senator Paul\u2019s Kentucky priorities:\n\nLake Cumberland \u2013 Prevents the Secretary of the Army from charging a fee for surplus water if the contract is for surplus water stored in the Lake Cumberland Watershed.\n\nRough River Lake \u2013 Prohibits the imposition of administrative fees around RRL and provides for the reimbursement of those fees to eligible property owners.\n\nFreedom to Fish \u2013 The Freedom to Fish Act, which became law in 2013, prevents the Corps of Engineers from taking certain actions to create a new restricted area prohibiting public access to waters downstream of a dam or other civil works structures in the Cumberland River basin. This provision extends Freedom to Fish by five years once AWIA (S. 3021) is signed into law.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senator-rand-paul-supports-judge-brett-kavanaugh/", "Senator Rand Paul Supports Judge Brett Kavanaugh", "2018-10-05", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 5, 2018\n\nContact: Sergio_Gor@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement in support of Judge Brett Kavanaugh:\n\n\u201cHaving looked at the totality of Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s life and career, I am persuaded to vote for him today.\n\n\u201cThe preponderance of evidence from hundreds of people who knew him and worked with him indicates he is a good man with a good reputation for integrity and character.\n\n\u201cJudge Kavanaugh is qualified, he has been vetted, and he should be confirmed.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-holds-hearing-expediting-treatments-patients-rare-diseases/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Holds Hearing on Expediting Treatments for Patients with Rare Diseases", "2018-10-04", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 4, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Children and Families Subcommittee for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a hearing entitled, \u201cRare Diseases: Expediting Treatment for Patients.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s subcommittee heard from patient advocates, clinicians, and industry professionals as it examined what Congress can do to improve a slow-moving regulatory process that leaves the needs of many patients with rare genetic diseases unmet, as well as how to help ensure these patients have timely access to treatment options to alleviate their conditions.\n\n\u201cAs a parent, I can only imagine, though, the overwhelming desperation and hopelessness of being confronted with a fatal diagnosis and being told to simply enjoy the remaining time that their child has left. To the extent that government can improve efficiencies to speed access to treatments for patients and families facing such a situation, such action should be taken without delay,\u201d Dr. Paul remarked in his opening statement.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s opening statement HERE and the entire hearing HERE.\n\nYou can find a complete list of the witnesses who testified below:\n\nWITNESSES\n\nMark Dant (Louisville, KY)\n\nBoard chair of EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases\n\nVolunteer Executive Director, The Ryan Foundation\n\nMark founded The Ryan Foundation, named for his son who was diagnosed with Mucopolysaccharidosis 1 (MPS I) at age 3 with a life expectancy of 10 years old, and Mark has spent over 25 years working on behalf of the rare disease community. His son, Ryan, graduated from the University of Louisville in 2017.\n\nMarc Patterson, MD\n\nProfessor of Neurology, Pediatrics, and Medical Genetics, Mayo Clinic\n\nDr. Patterson is the chair of the Division of Child and Adolescent Neurology at the Mayo Clinic, where he focuses on rare diseases in children.\n\nMichael Strupp, MD\n\nProfessor at the University of Munich, Germany, in the Department of Neurology and German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders\n\nDr. Strupp\u2019s work in drug development has centered around finding known compounds that have a demonstrated safety profile and testing their efficacy for rare and incurable diseases.\n\nLincoln Tsang\n\nPartner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP \u2013 Former Head of Biologicals/Biotechnology for the United Kingdom\u2019s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency\n\nAt Arnold and Porter, Dr. Tsang continues to advise large and small companies working to develop novel technologies to treat pediatric and orphan diseases, and he brings a unique perspective of both the U.S. and EU regulatory systems.\n\nMallory Factor\n\nFounder, Chairman, and CEO of IntraBio\n\nIntraBio, founded in 2015, translates research in the fields of lysosomal biology, autophagy, and neurology into orphan drugs and treatments to improve the lives of patients.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-opioid-bill-containing-dr-rand-pauls-provisions-expand-access-treatment-passes-senate/", "Opioid Bill Containing Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s Provisions to Expand Access to Treatment Passes Senate", "2018-10-03", "2018", "2018-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 3, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded final Senate passage of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, legislation to combat the opioid crisis that contains provisions Dr. Paul has championed to allow more Americans struggling with addiction to find treatment.\n\n\u201cThe opioid epidemic has devastated individuals and families throughout Kentucky and all across America, which is why I\u2019ve led the fight to expand access to treatment by removing artificial roadblocks so more people are able to get the help they need. I applaud Congress for building on the progress we have made in the last few years by permanently extending the increased patient cap for Suboxone and ensuring more health care providers can administer treatment, and I look forward to the President signing this important bipartisan legislation into law,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nA physician by trade for over 20 years, Dr. Paul has been a leading advocate for increasing treatment opportunities for patients struggling with drug addiction by eliminating Washington\u2019s overreaching and misguided restrictions on patients\u2019 access to treatment.\n\nThe inclusion and passage of these provisions are a result of Dr. Paul\u2019s steadfast commitment to this issue, and reflect the language of his 2015 TREAT Act as well as his subsequent efforts to make permanent a 2016 change in federal regulations that raised the cap on the number of patients a physician can treat with buprenorphine (a key component in Suboxone) from 100 to 275.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nThe final language of H.R. 6 includes the provisions from the Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act (S.2317), which Dr. Paul introduced with Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in January 2018. Those provisions do the following:\n\n\u00b7 Codifies the 275-patient cap for physicians, and sets the initial first year patient limit at 100 patients\n\n\u00b7 Makes permanent the 5-year allowance included in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016 for Physicians Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to prescribe addiction treatment drugs\n\n\u00b7 Expands this authority for 5 years to three other advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) specialties: certified nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, and certified-registered nurse anesthetists.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:08:35Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-questions-nato-expansion-strategy/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Questions NATO Expansion Strategy", "2018-09-05", "2018", "2018-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nSeptember 5, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 During today\u2019s U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on \u201cAssessing the Value of the NATO Alliance,\u201d U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned whether expanding NATO to include countries such as Montenegro benefits America\u2019s national security or instead increases our risks.\n\n\u201cI think there has to be some discussion,\u201d Dr. Paul said at the hearing before asking, \u201cDo we want everybody in NATO? Is there no limitations to who we\u2019ll put in NATO? Does it dilute the value of NATO? Is it provocative?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd people say, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re giving credence to Russia\u2019s arguments.\u2019 No, but we have to know what our adversaries think if we want to change their behavior,\u201d he continued.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s remarks HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:06:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-reveals-results-kentucky-poll-showing-broad-bipartisan-support-criminal-justice/", "Sen. Rand Paul Reveals Results of Kentucky Poll Showing Broad Bipartisan Support for Criminal Justice Reform", "2018-08-31", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 30, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul joined FreedomWorks, Justice Action Network, and White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner to release the results of a new poll showing Kentucky voters\u2019 strong support for criminal justice reforms, including those in the FIRST STEP Act.\n\nIn his remarks, Senator Paul highlighted the extremely positive poll results, and called for a bipartisan push for prison reform and justice reform:\n\n\u201cAs a leading voice for justice reform, I\u2019m pleased by the results of this poll, as they demonstrate something I\u2019ve been saying for years \u2013 this is a bipartisan issue on which I think all of us can come together and make real, impactful change to fix our broken system,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cWith the support of the White House, President Trump, and hopefully my fellow members of Congress, I am optimistic that we can finally make these meaningful reforms a reality and return our focus to rehabilitation, not incarceration.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND: POLL TOP LINES\n\nThe poll was commissioned by the Justice Action Network and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies from August 21 to August 23, 2018, and asked 500 Kentuckians about their opinions on criminal justice reform.\n\n\u00b7 82% of all polled think the country\u2019s criminal justice system needs significant improvements\n\n\u00b7 82% of all polled think a person convicted of non-violent drug offenses should not be sentenced to life in prison (82% GOP)\n\n\u00b7 74% of all polled think Congress should give judges the option to depart from mandatory minimums in certain circumstances (73% GOP)\n\n\u00b7 70% of all polled think the prison and sentencing reform bill should get a vote in the Senate (86% GOP)\n\n\u00b7 89% of all polled think that the main goal of our criminal justice system should be rehabilitating inmates to become productive, law-abiding citizens (87% GOP)\n\nYou can view the poll results HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-stands-life-secures-vote-his-amendment-defund-planned-parenthood/", "Dr. Rand Paul Stands for Life, Secures Vote on His Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood", "2018-08-23", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This afternoon, after speaking on the Senate floor to expose Republicans for blocking his efforts to protect life so they could instead greatly expand the welfare-warfare state, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) secured a vote on his amendment to stop taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood and other entities that perform abortions.\n\nThough the Senate chose to continue the status quo in a 45-48 vote, Dr. Paul\u2019s stand forced the Senate on the record on what government is doing with the American people\u2019s money.\n\n\u201cWhile I am disappointed in the outcome of this vote, I will never apologize for standing up for life. If it took exposing the preference of so many in my own party to continue reckless spending over protecting the innocent, it was a fight worth having,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment would not have prevented health care providers that do not perform abortions from continuing to receive federal funding for women\u2019s health services. Affected entities would have been eligible to have their funding restored after they stopped performing abortions.\n\nDuring his speech, Dr. Paul had noted that \u201c[t]he dirty little secret is that Republican leadership is blocking my amendment to defund Planned Parenthood\u201d by filling the amendment tree, later saying, \u201cThe question is, what is more important to these Republicans? Saving lives or spending money?\u201d\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s blistering speech that ultimately secured a vote HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-republicans-block-sen-rand-pauls-amendment-defund-planned-parenthood/", "Republicans Block Sen. Rand Paul\u2019s Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood", "2018-08-23", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 As the U.S. Senate continues to consider the minibus appropriations package for Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will speak on the Senate floor regarding Senate Republican leadership blocking his amendment that would stop taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood and other entities that perform abortions, and he will call on leadership to allow a vote.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment would not prevent health care providers that do not perform abortions from continuing to receive federal funding for women\u2019s health services, and affected entities that stop performing abortions would be eligible to have their funding restored.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul speak live HERE, and you can find background information on Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment below:\n\nBACKGROUND\n\n\u2022 This amendment would make sure that federal tax dollars are not going to organizations that perform abortions, like Planned Parenthood.\n\n\u2022 Funds for these services would continue to be provided to entities that are eligible and not performing abortions, such as community health centers.\n\n\u2022 There are over 10,000 community health center facilities across the country, providing health services to more than 27 million patients \u2013 compared with 2.4 million who use Planned Parenthood services.\n\n\u2022 Though Planned Parenthood advocates claim that women receive mammograms at its facilities, none of the organization\u2019s 650 facilities actually offer mammograms.\n\n\u2022 According to Planned Parenthood\u2019s own report for 2016-2017, it performed 321,384 abortions, averaging out to a rate of 881 per day, or one every 98 seconds.\n\n\u2022 According to GAO, PPFA affiliates receive nearly $60 million per year in family planning grants and over $400 million per year in Medicaid reimbursements. Overall, Planned Parenthood received $543.7 million in federal funding, or nearly 40% of PP\u2019s revenue.\n\n\u2022 In total, Planned Parenthood is a $1.5 billion taxpayer-funded abortion corporation.\n\n\u2022 Last year, Planned Parenthood spent $75.6 million on \u201cmovement building\u201d alone, spending $128.3 million on a combination of political activities. In addition, it spent $85 million fundraising.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-amendment-stop-federal-funding-abortion-providers/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Amendment to Stop Federal Funding of Abortion Providers", "2018-08-17", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 17, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced an amendment to H.R. 6157, the Senate appropriations package for Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, that would stop taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood and other entities that perform abortions.\n\n\u201cOne of the top priorities for a Republican Congress that professes pro-life values on the campaign trail should be to stop taxpayer funding for abortion providers. This is our chance to turn our words into action, stand up for the sanctity of life, and speak out for the most innocent among us that have no voice,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe amendment contains the same language preventing such spending as the FY 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education funding bill that passed the U.S. House Appropriations Committee in July, and it does not block health care providers that do not perform abortions from continuing to receive federal funding for women\u2019s health services.\n\nAffected entities that stop performing abortions would be eligible to have their funding restored.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment below.\n\nThe action is only the latest step in Dr. Paul\u2019s continuing efforts to stand up in Congress for the unborn.\n\nIn addition to previously introducing standalone legislation and an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood in 2015, as well as forcing the Senate to go on the record on his proposal, Dr. Paul is also an original cosponsor of S. 2311, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and he reintroduced S. 231, his Life at Conception Act, in January 2017.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-president-trump-revoking-john-brennans-security-clearance-0/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds President Trump for Revoking John Brennan\u2019s Security Clearance", "2018-08-15", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 15, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the White House announced President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan:\n\n\u201cI applaud President Trump for his revoking of John Brennan\u2019s security clearance. I urged the President to do this. I filibustered Brennan\u2019s nomination to head the CIA in 2013, and his behavior in government and out of it demonstrate why he should not be allowed near classified information. He participated in a shredding of constitutional rights, lied to Congress, and has been monetizing and making partisan political use of his clearance since his departure.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-president-trump-revoking-john-brennans-security-clearance/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds President Trump for Revoking John Brennan\u2019s Security Clearance", "2018-08-15", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", null, 0, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senator-paul-and-chairman-kosachev-agree-us-russia-engagement/", "Senator Paul and Chairman Kosachev Agree on U.S.-Russia Engagement", "2018-08-06", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 6, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSenator Paul and Chairman Kosachev Agree on U.S.-Russia Engagement\n\nFirst Delegation from Russian Federation to Travel to Washington in Almost Three Years\n\nMOSCOW, RUSSIA \u2013 During an hour-long meeting today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) secured an agreement from Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, to send members of the Russian Federation to Washington, the first trip from the Russian Federation to the U.S. Capitol in almost three years, to continue dialogue on vital issues such as nuclear non-proliferation and combating terrorism. The Council Committee on Foreign Affairs is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Senator Paul is a member.\n\n\u201cEngagement is vital to our national security and peace around the world. Today, I met with Chairman Kosachev, and we agreed on the importance of continued dialogue. I invited the Russian Federation to send a delegation to the Capitol, and they have agreed to take this important next step,\u201d said Sen. Rand Paul.\n\nIn addition to meeting with various Russian officials, Senator Paul also visited with Americans at the United States embassy in Moscow.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-congress-passes-dr-rand-pauls-reform-improve-fdas-approval-process/", "Congress Passes Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s Reform to Improve the FDA\u2019s Approval Process", "2018-08-01", "2018", "2018-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nAugust 1, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the U.S. Congress for bringing greater efficiency to the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s approval process for animal food additives and helping provide more certainty to the animal food manufacturing industry regarding the rules they have to follow, as the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 5554, the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018, on Tuesday, which included Dr. Paul\u2019s proposal securing the policy change.\n\n\u201cI am pleased to see Congress address Kentuckians\u2019 concerns by passing a reform that will help reduce unnecessary bureaucratic delays, increase the amount of information the FDA takes into consideration on animal food additives, and ensure Kentucky\u2019s farmers and manufacturers are not kept in the dark on the submission and approval process for their food-additive petitions,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s reform, which he introduced after hearing about this issue from a Kentucky company, requires the FDA to consider data from studies conducted in other countries when a company submits those studies as part of their food additive petition.\n\nIt also requires the FDA to provide a scientific rationale for why additional studies would be needed to supplement the data companies have already submitted, and it would repeal 2007 language that brings uncertainty to the long-standing relationship between state-based feed regulators and the FDA.\n\nThe proposal passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee in February as an amendment to the Senate version of the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018 and was subsequently included in the House legislation.\n\nYou can find more information on the issue and Dr. Paul\u2019s reform below:\n\nBackground:\n\n\u2022 Currently, the law requires that any substance that is added to or is expected to become a component of animal food, either directly or indirectly, must be used in accordance with a food additive petition, unless it is generally recognized as safe (GRAS).\n\n\u2022 While there is a statutory deadline of 90 days for the FDA to approve or deny the petition, the industry reports that many food additive petitions take between three and five years to reach completion, due in part to a lengthy pre-submission process. This process can consist of meetings and calls between the petitioner and the FDA, the submission of preliminary data packages (\u201cwhite papers\u201d), and the submission of proposed frameworks or \u201cprotocols\u201d for animal studies.\n\n\u2022 In response to a serious pet food contamination and recall, Congress passed language in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) of 2007 requiring the FDA to establish \u201cingredient standards and definitions with respect to pet food.\u201d To date, the FDA has not issued these regulations because of their conflicting nature with the FDA\u2019s responsibilities for food additive petitions under section 409 of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Furthermore, this language has called into question FDA\u2019s longstanding relationship with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a voluntary membership association that maintains a published list of animal food ingredient definitions.\n\nSummary of Dr. Paul\u2019s Reform:\n\n\u2022 Requires the Secretary to review, if submitted by the petitioner, data from studies conducted in foreign countries.\n\n\u2022 Requires the FDA to post the following information on its website: the number of petitions for animal food additives that are pending, and how long those petitions have been pending, as well as the number of animal study protocol proposals that have been pending for over 50 days, and those that have received an extension.\n\n\u2022 Requires FDA to provide petitioners with information on the required contents of the petition. If they require additional studies beyond what the petitioner has proposed, the FDA must provide a scientific rational for that requirement.\n\n\u2022 Strikes FDAAA section 1002(a)(1), which requires the FDA to issue regulations establishing \u201cstandards and definitions with respect to pet food,\u201d due to its conflicting nature with the FFDCA and to address the uncertainty it causes for the FDA/AAFCO relationship.\n\n\u2022 Requires the issuance of guidance, within 18 months, to include the recommended format for submission of existing data related to animal food additives, including foreign data, the number of days in which the FDA will respond to such data, circumstances under which the submission of study protocols are recommended, how the FDA will inform the person submitting those protocols if the review will take longer than 50 days, and best practices for communication between the FDA and industry on the development of pre-submission data packages.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:04:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-statement-kavanaugh-nomination/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases Statement on Kavanaugh Nomination", "2018-07-30", "2018", "2018-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJuly 30, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who last week met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, released the following statement concerning Judge Kavanaugh\u2019s nomination:\n\n\u201cAfter meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination.\n\n\u201cNo one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless, of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee, however, must be judged on the totality of their views, character, and opinions.\n\n\u201cI have expressed my concern over Judge Kavanaugh\u2019s record on warrantless bulk collection of data and how that might apply to very important privacy cases before the Supreme Court.\n\n\u201cIn reviewing his record on other privacy cases like Jones, and through my conversation with him, I have hope that in light of the new precedent in Carpenter v. United States, Judge Kavanaugh will be more open to a Fourth Amendment that protects digital records and property.\n\n\u201cOf course, my vote is not a single-issue vote, and much of my reading and conversation has been in trying to figure out exactly how good Judge Kavanaugh will be on other issues before the Court.\n\n\u201cMy conversation with Judge Kavanaugh reinforces my belief that he will evaluate cases before the Supreme Court from a textual and originalist point of view.\n\n\u201cI believe he will carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.\n\n\u201cOn issues such as property rights and reining in the administrative state, Judge Kavanaugh has a strong record and showed a deep commitment during our meeting. His views on due process and mens rea show a thoughtful approach to the law and its applications. His views on war powers and separation of powers are encouraging.\n\n\u201cFinally, his strong defenses of the First and Second Amendments in landmark cases show someone who isn\u2019t afraid to challenge the status quo and will fight with backbone. Judge Kavanaugh will have my support and my vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:02:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-us-senate-votes-paul-amendment-restore-fiscal-responsibility/", "U.S. Senate Votes on Paul Amendment to Restore Fiscal Responsibility", "2018-07-26", "2018", "2018-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJuly 25, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) continued his efforts to rein in the federal government\u2019s reckless spending by offering an amendment to H.R. 6147, the minibus appropriations bill, to reduce each amount provided in the bill by 11.39 percent.\n\nThe Senate ultimately voted 25-74 to reject another opportunity to be responsible stewards of the American people\u2019s money.\n\n\u201cThe best way to do something about debt is quit spending yourself further into a hole,\u201d Dr. Paul said during a speech on the Senate floor urging support for his amendment, later stating, \u201cSo I would advocate that if you are concerned about the debt, concerned about the deficit, and concerned about the strength of our country, that you vote to reinstitute the spending caps.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal deficit will hit $981 billion in FY 2019.[1]\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s cuts, which would have totaled approximately $17.5 billion, would have been applied proportionally to the appropriations package and brought spending back in line with caps established before the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 raised the Fiscal Year 2019 caps by $68 billion for non-defense discretionary spending.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s entire remarks HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:02:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-why-are-us-taxpayers-paying-pakistani-kids-go-space-camp-and-dollywood-asks-dr-rand-paul/", "ICYMI: Why are U.S. Taxpayers Paying for Pakistani Kids to go to Space Camp and Dollywood? asks Dr. Rand Paul", "2018-07-16", "2018", "2018-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJuly 16, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Kristine Frazao to discuss the U.S. State Department spending $250,000 of taxpayer funds to send 24 Pakistani kids on a trip to the U.S. that included multiple days at Space Camp and stops at Dollywood and Washington, D.C.\n\n\u201cI think we have so many problems here at home that we need to address before we think about spending money on somebody else\u2019s kids,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can learn more and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:02:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-discusses-taxpayers-funding-study-cocaines-effects-quail/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Discusses Taxpayers Funding Study on Cocaine\u2019s Effects on Quail", "2018-07-13", "2018", "2018-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJuly 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Kristine Frazao to discuss the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spending over $356,000 of the American people\u2019s money to study whether or not cocaine makes Japanese quail more sexually promiscuous.\n\n\u201cCommon sense would have told us that one, cocaine is probably not good for you, and that cocaine might make you do things that you wouldn\u2019t have done otherwise had you not been on cocaine,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can learn more and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:02:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-holds-hearing-dhs-searching-smartphones-without-warrant/", "Dr. Rand Paul Holds Hearing on DHS Searching Smartphones Without a Warrant", "2018-07-11", "2018", "2018-07", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJuly 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Earlier today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), held a hearing entitled, \u201cExamining Warrantless Smartphone Searches at the Border.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think that most Americans could agree that it\u2019s reasonable to let customs officials search suitcases for contraband. What\u2019s unreasonable is that the government lawyers want you to believe that there\u2019s no difference between a suitcase and a smartphone. I disagree, and here again, I think most Americans would, too,\u201d Dr. Paul said in his opening statement.\n\nCurrently, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies permit customs and border authorities to seize and search American citizens\u2019 smartphones and other digital devices when they travel internationally to and from the United States, without a warrant or suspicion of wrongdoing.\n\nThe FSO subcommittee heard testimony regarding the history of this so-called \u201cborder search exception\u201d to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment and evaluated the far-reaching privacy implications of DHS\u2019 policy of allowing customs and border officials to seize and search the digital devices of international travelers without a warrant.\n\n\u201cThere are no statutory limits on who can see this information, how long it can be kept, or how it can be used, and there is no special protection provided for sensitive material, political material, client-attorney privilege, trade secrets, medical information, or materials otherwise privileged under the law,\u201d Georgetown Law Professor Laura Donohue noted in her testimony.\n\nIn April 2017, Dr. Paul joined U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in introducing the Protecting Data at the Border Act (S. 823) to stop this violation of Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment rights and prevent government officials from requiring Americans to disclose sensitive information on their digital lives in order to leave or re-enter the country.\n\nYou can find video from today\u2019s hearing HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:02:18Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-discusses-waste-taxpayer-money-unfinished-afghanistan-luxury-hotel/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Discusses Waste of Taxpayer Money on Unfinished Afghanistan Luxury Hotel", "2018-06-25", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 25, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Kristine Frazao to discuss the failed Kabul Marriott hotel in Afghanistan, which cost taxpayers nearly $60 million and sits unfinished and abandoned. An adjacent apartment building, also abandoned, cost taxpayers nearly $30 million more, and both now represent a security threat to U.S. Embassy personnel.\n\nIn April, Dr. Paul\u2019s Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee directly conducted on-the-ground oversight of U.S. spending in Afghanistan, a mission that consisted of more than a dozen meetings and four off-site visits over the course of two and a half days in the country.\n\n\u201cNow we\u2019ve discovered that it\u2019s so unsafe that snipers could crawl up in it and shoot down on our embassy that we have to send soldiers over there to risk life and limb to patrol it to keep it free of snipers,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can learn more and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment, which includes photos of the abandoned project taken by Dr. Paul\u2019s staff, HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-condemns-washingtons-bipartisan-spending-addiction/", "Dr. Rand Paul Condemns Washington\u2019s Bipartisan Spending Addiction", "2018-06-20", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 20, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the U.S. Senate failed to discharge H.R. 3, President Trump\u2019s rescissions package to cut $15 billion in unneeded funding, from the Senate Appropriations Committee:\n\n\u201cIt is unacceptable \u2013 but no surprise \u2013 that the Swamp\u2019s bipartisan addiction to spending other people\u2019s money is so severe that the Senate refused to simply consider cutting funding that is no longer needed or authorized. I am disappointed by this Congress\u2019 failure to even pretend it takes fiscal responsibility seriously. Our $21 trillion debt poses the greatest danger to our national security and is only getting worse by the minute. Most frustratingly of all, it is largely a self-created threat.\n\n\u201cIt is time for Congress to grow up and acknowledge that government won\u2019t be able to do anyone any good or fund any politician\u2019s priority when it goes broke.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-amendments-stop-government-overreach-kentucky-communities/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Amendments to Stop Government Overreach in Kentucky Communities", "2018-06-20", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 20, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) filed three amendments to H.R. 5895, the minibus appropriations bill, as a continuation of his efforts to address the specific issues faced by Kentuckians in the Lake Cumberland and Rough River Lake communities.\n\nAmendments #2973, #2974, and #2975 would prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from conducting costly studies and imposing new, unfair fees on Kentuckians in these areas.\n\nIn addition to proposing legislative action, Dr. Paul\u2019s efforts to address these communities\u2019 concerns have included personally meeting multiple times with Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James in the past year to ask for assistance in resolving these issues, as well as sending follow-up letters to Assistant Secretary James.\n\n\u201cDuring my many meetings and discussions with the residents and officials in these communities, I promised to do whatever I could to find a solution to the Corps\u2019 involvement at Lake Cumberland and Rough River Lake. These amendments are a continuation of my fight, on behalf of these Kentuckians, to defend our land and waterways from further government intrusion on homeowners, businesses, and anyone who pays a water bill,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nRough River Lake Flowage Easement Encroachment Resolution Plan: This plan, which the previous Army Corps director signed in the final days of the Obama administration, has been a bureaucratic and financial nightmare for residents around Rough River Lake. Last year, the Corps notified hundreds of residents that their homes are in or below the Corps\u2019 easement around the lake, and that the residents are each responsible for paying thousands of dollars in administrative fees, survey fees, and possible costs of structural relocation to comply with the Corps\u2019 demands related to the easement. This is due to the Army Corps improperly measuring their easement around the lake in the 1950s, allowing decades of construction around the lake without any notice to residents, and waiting until 2017 to tell residents that their homes were in violation of their easement.\n\n\u2022 Paul \u201cRough River Lake Enforcement\u201d Amendment #2973: Would prevent enforcement of any requirements under the plan and prevent the use of eminent domain against the residents.\n\n\u2022 Paul \u201cRough River Lake Survey\u201d Amendment #2974: Would prevent the Corps from completing the last of three surveys around the Lake, which is the survey to determine where easement encroachments are located.\n\nLake Cumberland: For many years, the Corps has been attempting to begin a process which will lead to fees on surrounding cities and businesses that use Lake Cumberland for their water supply. A major concern is that entering into long-term water supply contracts with the Corps will result in unaffordable costs being passed onto residents around Lake Cumberland \u2014the $600 million price tag of rehabilitating Wolf Creek Dam is still fresh on their minds. This has been an issue at other lakes around the state, too, including Laurel River Lake and Barren River Lake.\n\n\u2022 Paul Amendment #2975: This amendment prohibits the funding of certain water supply studies, therefore blocking the Corps\u2019 attempts to assess fees on those who draw water from these Lakes. It is companion language to what was included in the House version of the appropriations bill and introduced by Congressman Hal Rogers.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-administration-implementing-his-association-health-plan-reform/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Administration for Implementing His Association Health Plan Reform", "2018-06-19", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) welcomed the Department of Labor\u2019s finalization of its rule expanding access to Association Health Plans (AHPs), a step Dr. Paul has championed throughout the debate over health care reform to increase competition and allow more Americans to join in groups to purchase quality, affordable health insurance across state lines.\n\nThroughout 2017, Dr. Paul worked directly with President Trump and administration officials to achieve the change, and he joined President Trump at the White House in October 2017 for the signing of an executive order paving the way for the reform.\n\n\u201cFor months, I worked directly with President Donald Trump and Secretary Acosta to make this happen. Today, we are putting more power back into the hands of the American people to choose the health insurance plan that best meets their needs at a price they can afford. I refused to believe we could not keep fighting for pro-patient, pro-worker, and pro-family solutions in health care, and I applaud President Trump for responding and delivering one of the most significant free market health care reforms in a generation,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe Department of Labor\u2019s finalized rule would expand the types of groups that can form an AHP and allow for membership across state lines. It would also allow self-employed individuals who have no other employees to take part in a large-group AHP with their families, including a self-insured AHP.\n\nThe rule would continue to ensure Americans are not denied coverage or charged higher rates due to pre-existing conditions, and the new policy will help create more options for the 15 million Americans and their family members who do not have insurance because they work for a small employer that does not offer coverage or run a sole proprietorship, as well as the 9 million Americans who purchase unaffordable coverage in the individual market without qualifying for a subsidy.\n\nAccording to CBO estimates, roughly four million more Americans will be covered by AHPs by 2023.\n\nYou can read the Department of Labor\u2019s announcement HERE.\n\nIn addition to his work on the federal level to support expanding Association Health Plans, Dr. Paul has extensively traveled Kentucky to meet with business owners and employees regarding his proposal.\n\nIn July 2017, Dr. Paul held a press conference in Louisville with representatives from Kentucky organizations whose over 1 million members, employees, and family members could benefit from changes to existing regulations.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-paul-cruz-lankford-and-inhofe-call-investigation-national-science-foundation/", "Paul, Cruz, Lankford, and Inhofe Call for Investigation at the National Science Foundation", "2018-06-18", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 18, 2018\n\nContact: Sergio Gor (Paul), 202-224-4343\n\nMaria Jeffrey (Cruz), (202) 224-5922\n\n(Lankford), (202) 224-5754\n\nLeacy Burke (Inhofe), (202) 224-4721\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Ted Cruz (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) requested National Science Foundation (NSF) Inspector General Allison Lerner investigate the NSF\u2019s grant-making process, relaying their concern that the NSF has \u201cissued several grants which seek to influence political and social debate rather than conduct scientific research\u201d in contradiction of federal law and the agency\u2019s mission.\n\nAmong the examples, the senators cited the NSF providing over four million dollars to a climate-change coalition to turn television meterologists into climate change evangelists (with almost three million coming after initial research revealed a significant lack of consenses on climate change among meterologists), as well as a grant to increase the engineering industry\u2019s activism on social justice issues.\n\n\u201cResearch designed to sway individuals of a various group, be they meteorologists or engineers, to a politically contentious viewpoint is not science \u2013 it is propagandizing. Such efforts certainly fail to meet the standard of scientific research to which the NSF should be devoting federal taxpayer dollars,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe senators went on to ask Inspector General Lerner to answer seven questions in her investigation to determine if proper quality controls are in place at NSF and to discover if the agency failed to abide by federal law while using the American people\u2019s tax dollars to fund research.\n\nThe letter is signed by Senator Paul as chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management; Senator Cruz as chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness; Senator Lankford as chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management; and Senator Inhofe as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.\n\nYou can read the senators\u2019 letter below:\n\n***\n\nDear Inspector General Lerner,\n\nThe federal government is the largest benefactor of scientists conducting research in the United States, devoting billions of dollars to scientific pursuits each year. The role of organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to provide financial support to scientists conducting basic research which furthers public knowledge and the common good.\n\nHowever, we are concerned the federal government\u2019s system of supporting research lacks sufficient quality controls, leading to projects designed with the stated and specific intent to convince members of the general public to adopt particular political positions. NSF, intended to be a supporter of basic research beneficial to the common good, has issued several grants which seek to influence political and social debate rather than conduct scientific research. The manner in which grants such as these receive federal funding is deserving of further scrutiny.\n\nTo that end, we are requesting that the NSF Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conduct an investigation to determine whether wrongdoing, including violation of federal law, took place throughout the approval process which resulted in NSF Grant #0917566 and #1422431, as well as #1664260, receiving federal funding. We are also requesting the NSF OIG investigate whether the \u201cresearch\u201d or outcomes of these projects constitute violations of the Hatch Act or any other federal statute or regulation.\n\nGrants #0917566 and #1422431, entitled \u201cEnabling TV Meteorologists to Provide Viewers with Climate Change-related Science Education Based on ISE \u2018Best Practices,'\u201d and \u201cTV Weathercasters and Climate Education: Expanding the Reach of Climate Matters,\u201d received $1,060,4321 and $2,998,1782 respectively. These funds were issued to a partnership of two universities and Climate Central, a group The Washington Post described as:\n\n\u201c[A]n advocacy group, aiming to get people to do more about what the group now sees as \u2018a clear and present danger\u2019\u2014 global climate change. As its rewritten Web site [sic] now says, its mission is not just to inform people but also to \u2018inspire Americans to support action to stabilize the climate, prepare for a hotter world, or some combination of the two.'\u201d3\n\nClimate Central has since changed the manner in which it characterizes itself, perhaps due to the attention it received from The Washington Post, but the organization\u2019s receipt of federal dollars for advocacy efforts raises significant concerns.\n\nThe initial research group\u2019s efforts were to determine the methods TV meteorologists use to disseminate \u201cinformal science education, and make recommendations to improve practice,\u201d as well as produce \u201ceducational materials, principally a set of 30-second segments that can serve as a resource for TV meteorologists nation-wide.\u201d4 From this research, the coalition determined:\n\n\u201cUncertainty associated with climate science and the science-policy interface presents unique challenges owing to the complexity of the climate system itself. \u2026\u201d5 and\n\n\u201cRather than rationally weighing the evidence and deciding for themselves, as would be expected under more traditional ideas of scientific judgment, scientists may also use the views of a relevant peer group as a social cue for forming their own views. \u2026 [C]limate science expertise may be a less important influence on global warming views than political ideology or social consensus norms.\u201d6\n\nHaving learned that meteorologists in general remained inconclusive regarding climate change, this coalition then returned to the NSF and secured an additional $2,998,178 to expand \u201cthe reach\u201d of a political advocacy group by recruiting 200 additional weathercasters nationwide to participate in \u201cprofessional development activities and training on use of Climate Matters [a subsidiary of Climate Central] materials to help them become confident and competent climate educators. \u2026\u201d7\n\nWe find NSF\u2019s stewardship of the federal taxpayer dollars devoted to the latter project particularly egregious for a number of reasons. Given the earlier finding, it is troubling that NSF saw fit to fund this project designed to \u201crecruit\u201d experts to a position they did not come to of their own accord as meteorologists.8 It is further troubling that the specific objective of converting meteorologists to a climate-action-oriented opinion was to show them how an unknowledgeable citizenry would be more easily convinced of the same belief.\n\nSimilarly, Grant #1664260, \u201cEngineering Dissent: Moving Political Engagement for Social Justice from the Vanguard into the Mainstream of the Engineering Profession,\u201d also seeks to disseminate and convince individuals to adopt a particular politicized worldview. The proposal received $369,480 \u201cto study political engagement around social justice issues by a vanguard of engineers and to investigate how their dissent \u2013 be it expressed as activism, advocacy, protest, or reform \u2013 shapes the culture of their profession.\u201d9 The aim of the investigators was simply \u201cto strengthen the role of social justice by, (a) mapping the evolution of social justice in the culture of the profession, and then (b) sharing the findings (of effective channels of advocacy) with engineering student groups and professional member societies.\u201d10\n\nUnfortunately, these are hardly the only examples of NSF funding projects that appear to have little value beyond pushing for increased political activism. Grant #1423788, \u201cUnderstanding the Mechanisms for Disengagement from Contentious Political Interaction,\u201d provided $149,975 to examine whether individuals who shy away from conflict are less likely to participate in the political process and how to help them overcome this reluctance. Grant #1528487, \u201cCollaborative Research: A New Design for Identifying Persuasion Effects and Selection in Media Exposures Experiments via Patient Preference Trials,\u201d provided at least $588,225 to researchers to look into the following questions: \u201cDoes media choice cause polarization or does polarization cause media choice?\u201d as well as to what extent media can persuade viewers \u201cacross the partisan aisle. \u2026\u201d11\n\nWe have considerable concerns that each of the aforementioned grants fall substantially outside the scope of \u201cbasic research,\u201d the mission of the NSF, as well as the federal government. Each of these grants is explicitly designed to influence political debate in favor of a particular, and controversial, viewpoint. This is a stark departure from the purpose of the NSF, which includes \u201cpromot[ing] the progress of science.\u201d12 Research designed to sway individuals of a various group, be they meteorologists or engineers, to a politically contentious viewpoint is not science \u2013 it is propagandizing. Such efforts certainly fail to meet the standard of scientific research to which the NSF should be devoting federal taxpayer dollars.\n\nFor nearly 80 years, Congress has imposed significant restraints on the legality of using federal resources to engage in political activity. Namely, the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees, agencies, and other entities from engaging in partisan activity with the use of federal resources. It is unacceptable for federal agencies to support such research which attempts to convince individuals to adopt a particular viewpoint rather than conducting objective research examining a given topic. In light of these concerns and the information provided in regards to the grants detailed above, we ask that NSF OIG conduct an investigation to determine the following:\n\n1. Did the funding of any of the grants above, or the dissemination of findings, constitute engagement in political activity using government resources?\n\n2. Did the issuance of these grants constitute a violation of the Hatch Act or any other law or federal regulation, both government-wide and specific to NSF, governing political activity?\n\n3. What standard does the NSF use to ensure that political research such as that described above is not granted approval to receive federal tax dollars?\n\n4. What, if any, wrongdoing did NSF employees, researchers, or any individuals or organizations involved in the grant issuance commit?\n\n5. What, if any, internal controls are in place to ensure that all grants fall within the statutory purpose of NSF, which is \u201cto promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense\u201d?13\n\n6. If no legal violations or ethical wrongdoing occurred, what changes to NSF policies and procedures does the NSF OIG recommend be implemented so as to avoid devoting federal tax dollars to facially political efforts such as these in the future?\n\n7. What other grants may have been issued with the purpose of influencing or advancing political advocacy positions?\n\n__________________________", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-identifies-millions-taxpayer-dollars-supporting-somali-national-army/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Identifies Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Supporting Somali National Army", "2018-06-14", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 14, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Kristine Frazao to discuss the need to stop American taxpayer funds from flowing to the Somali National Army (SNA), which has a history of corruption and soldiers deserting to join forces linked to al-Qaida.\n\nAs he continues fighting for fiscal sanity and working to eliminate wasteful spending, Dr. Paul\u2019s FSO subcommittee has identified an $8 million grant from the U.S. State Department\u2019s Bureau of African Affairs that would allow the grantee to develop a system to provide over $4 million in stipends to personnel in the SNA.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s 920 instances of child soldiers, forcing children to fight. There\u2019s evidence that some of these soldiers are parts of al-Qaida. There\u2019s also evidence that some of these soldiers are simply nothing more than highway robbers,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can learn more and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-joins-judge-napolitano-discuss-who-has-power-declare-war/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Joins Judge Napolitano to Discuss Who Has the Power to Declare War", "2018-06-08", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 8, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joined Judge Andrew Napolitano on FoxNews.com\u2019s FreedomWatch to discuss the Constitution\u2019s separation of powers regarding war and how the revised Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) proposed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Bob Corker (R-TN) ignores that standard.\n\n\u201cThe reason the framers of the Constitution wanted that power to be dispersed among many people is they were trying to prevent us from going to war too often,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in the interview. \u201cI think this motion by Kaine and Corker actually turns the Constitution upside down and does something that is unconstitutional,\u201d he later noted.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s interview HERE.\n\nOn Wednesday, Judge Napolitano joined Professor Jonathan Turley and Christopher Anders in testifying before Dr. Paul\u2019s Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee on the Kaine-Corker AUMF. You can watch that hearing HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-video-dr-rand-paul-discusses-rescissions-proposal/", "VIDEO: Dr. Rand Paul Discusses Rescissions Proposal", "2018-06-07", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 7, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following video, in which he discusses his continued efforts to cut unnecessary government spending and highlights the Senate\u2019s upcoming opportunity to enact legislation containing the spending reductions in President Trump\u2019s rescissions proposal.\n\nIn May, Dr. Paul joined U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and several other senators in introducing legislation, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, that contains President Trump\u2019s proposal to cut over $15 billion in unneeded funding.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s video HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-holds-hearing-effects-unauthorized-war/", "Dr. Rand Paul Holds Hearing on Effects of Unauthorized War", "2018-06-06", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 6, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This afternoon, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), held a hearing entitled, \u201cWar Powers and the Effects of Unauthorized Military Engagements on Federal Spending.\u201d\n\nToday\u2019s hearing focused on the constitutional implications of open-ended war under both the existing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the revised AUMF proposed by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).\n\nThe FSO subcommittee heard testimony from Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst at the Fox News Channel; Professor Jonathan Turley from The George Washington University School of Law; and Christopher Anders, Deputy Director of the ACLU\u2019s Washington Legislative Office.\n\nIn addition to FSO subcommittee members, Dr. Paul opened the hearing to other senators, with Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) asking questions of the witnesses.\n\n\u201c[I]t is the job of Congress to declare or initiate war, and Congress has been negligent for over a decade now. Congress has not done its job. Congress has let president after president strip the war power from Congress and concentrate that power in the Executive,\u201d Dr. Paul said in his opening statement.\n\nRegarding what the situation would look like under the Corker-Kaine AUMF, Judge Andrew Napolitano testified, \u201cSo a president with one-third plus one in either house can wage war on any target at any time the president chooses to do so. That is so contrary to what Madison intended, so contrary to the plain meaning of the Constitution, so violative of the separation of powers as to be a rejection of the oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and none of you wants to reject that oath.\u201d\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s opening statement HERE and the full hearing HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-discusses-rescissions-bottom-line-boris/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Discusses Rescissions on \u2018Bottom Line with Boris\u2019", "2018-06-05", "2018", "2018-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJune 5, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Boris Epshteyn about President Trump\u2019s rescissions proposal to cut over $15 billion in unneeded funding. In May, Dr. Paul joined U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and several other senators in introducing legislation, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, that contains President Trump\u2019s spending reductions.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re getting rid of money that has simply been sitting there and not been spent,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in the interview.\n\nYou can watch the segment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:59:28Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-administration-taking-action-streamline-h-2a-visa-program/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Administration for Taking Action to Streamline H-2A Visa Program", "2018-05-24", "2018", "2018-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMay 24, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this afternoon that their departments are working together to simplify the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program:\n\n\u201cI have worked in Congress on behalf of Kentucky farmers and all other employers who rely on the H-2A program to streamline the application process, create greater government accountability, and increase the program\u2019s flexibility to meet reality. I am encouraged to see the administration respond to the push for reform, and I applaud President Trump and his Cabinet for working to continue the progress we have made to reduce the heavy bureaucratic burden Washington has placed on the American people and our economy.\u201d\n\nPreviously, farmers have reported massive financial losses due to H-2A application delays, and excessive paperwork has resulted in backlogs lasting 30 days or longer at both the Department of Labor and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).\n\nIn July 2017, Dr. Paul reintroduced the Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act (S. 1578) to create a more efficient process for farmers applying for new H-2A workers or reapplying for the same employees. He previously introduced the legislation in 2016.\n\nYou can find the text of the Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act and a summary of its provisions below:\n\nThe Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act:\n\n\u2022 Creates a simplified application for employers hiring returning workers and guarantees worker approval pending any necessary security checks. Farmers must currently reapply for their returning H-2A employees as if they were new workers;\n\n\u2022 Allows multi-employer joint contracts so workers are guaranteed their hours without farmers struggling to find either enough work for employees or extra workers when there is too much to do;\n\n\u2022 Enables farmers to apply for workers with staggered start and end dates on the same application, eliminating a massive paperwork burden;\n\n\u2022 Updates a system that still often relies on snail mail by directing USCIS to create an online \u201cRequest for Evidence\u201d (RFE) system, which would then require USCIS to provide an update within ten business days instead of delaying the process for weeks;\n\n\u2022 Provides due process by requiring the government to promptly give a reason for the denial or delay of H-2A workers to the employer and to provide a reasonable time to remedy the problem;\n\n\u2022 Widens eligibility by including livestock workers (including dairy and poultry) and equine workers as qualifying H-2A employees;\n\n\u2022 Speeds up approval process for replacement workers should hires prematurely abandon their position or fail to appear for employment, ensuring farmers are not left short-handed for the season.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:57:05Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-bottom-line-boris/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul on \u2018Bottom Line with Boris\u2019", "2018-05-23", "2018", "2018-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMay 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Earlier today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) sat down with Sinclair Broadcast Group\u2019s Boris Epshteyn to discuss his \u201cPenny Plan\u201d Balanced Budget and the growing national debt.\n\n\u201cRepublicans have said, \u2018We\u2019re for a balanced budget amendment,\u2019 but the sad thing is when it comes up, and you actually ask Republicans to vote for it \u2013 of course, no Democrats will vote for it \u2013 but then over half the Republicans voted against balancing the budget in five years,\u201d Dr. Paul stated in his interview.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s segment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:57:05Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-forces-senate-record-balanced-budget/", "Dr. Rand Paul Forces Senate on the Record on Balanced Budget", "2018-05-17", "2018", "2018-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMay 17, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced the U.S. Senate to go on the record on fiscal responsibility with a vote on his \u201cPenny Plan\u201d balanced budget. Ultimately, 20 senators stood with Dr. Paul to get Congress\u2019 spending under control, while 76 senators voted to continue trillion-dollar deficits.\n\n\u201c[T]he bottom line is whether the debt is threatening our national security, whether it\u2019s threatening the security and the economic foundation of our country, and I think without question it is. This vote is a litmus test for conservatives. Are you a conservative? Do you think we can cut one penny out of every dollar? I think it is a conservative notion that we have long said we are for. Now it\u2019s time to step up to the plate and actually vote what you say you stand for,\u201d Dr. Paul said on the floor shortly before the vote.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s speeches on the Senate floor HERE and HERE.\n\nIntroduced in April, Dr. Paul\u2019s budget would have balanced within five years, without touching Social Security, by restoring spending to pre-Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 levels and utilizing the \u201cPenny Plan.\u201d His proposal also included instructions that would have paved the way for the expansion of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to help Americans more easily cover their health care costs.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s budget and you can find more information below.\n\nDr. Rand Paul\u2019s Balanced Budget:\n\n\u2022 Senator Paul\u2019s budget simply states that for every on-budget dollar the federal government spent in FY18, excluding the BBA, it spend one penny less for the next five years (at which point balance is reached), with spending then growing at one percent thereafter.\n\n\u2022 Reduces spending by $404.8B in FY19 and by $13.35T over 10 years relative to baseline.\n\n\u2022 On total, spending still increases by 14.6 percent over the 10-year window. Only in Washington could a 14.6 percent increase be characterized as a \u201ccut.\u201d\n\n\u2022 This budget balances without making any changes to Social Security.\n\n\u2022 This budget makes no specific policy assumptions. All the savings are reflected in a new budget function \u2013 930: New Efficiencies, Consolidations, and Other Savings. This budget sets a goal of balance and then calls on Congress to use the tools provided to make the changes in law needed to achieve that objective.\n\nThe BBA of 2018\n\n\u2022 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 raised the defense and non-defense discretionary spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 at a cost of nearly $300 billion. With federal debt over $21 trillion, the negative impact of borrowing for this spending outweighs any benefit derived from it.\n\nExpands Health Savings Accounts\n\n\u2022 Provides reconciliation instruction to reduce revenue by $18.6 billion to Senate Finance to allow for expanded HSAs.\n\n\u2022 Expansion would allow patients to save for their entire out-of-pocket costs and use HSAs to pay premiums, while also widening eligible disbursements to include supplements, over-the-counter medicine, and other activities that promote wellness and reduce the overall cost of health care.\n\nReconciliation and Budget Process Reform\n\n\u2022 Provides reconciliation instructions to each committee with mandatory spending in its jurisdiction, as was the original purpose of reconciliation, ensuring every committee plays a part and has skin in the game. This is a departure from the recent practice of using reconciliation\u2019s privileged process to \u201cfilibuster-proof\u201d different policy priorities instead of bringing existing spending, revenue, and debt-limit laws in line with the budget resolution\u2019s articulation of fiscal priorities.\n\n\u2022 Raises the threshold of waiving budget points of order. The Senate now operates on a 60-vote threshold to pass legislation, meaning that, under existing constructs, if the votes exist to pass a bill, they are also there to waive a budget point of order. Raising the threshold says that fiscal responsibility needs to be taken seriously and have a higher standard \u2013 but not so high as to be unreasonably onerous.\n\n\u2022 In years in which Congress does not adopt a budget, the spending totals of the corresponding year of the most recently passed budget would be enforced. This proposal also makes budget function totals enforceable. It recognizes that the existing budget functions are meant to serve as portfolios, and it calls on Congress to weigh objectives against each other instead of programs.\n\n\u2022 Recommends several new points of order: against providing appropriations to a program not already authorized in law, as well as doing so in excess of authorized amounts; a surgical point of order against new duplication; and a point of order against any piece of legislation that contains funding subject to more than three 302(b) allocations.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:57:05Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-senate-confirmation-kentuckian-john-nalbandian-us-judge-sixth-circuit/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Senate Confirmation of Kentuckian John Nalbandian as U.S. Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals", "2018-05-15", "2018", "2018-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMay 15, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement congratulating Kentuckian John Nalbandian on his confirmation as a United States Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals:\n\n\u201cFrom the beginning of his law career clerking for my good family friend Judge Jerry Smith, to his appellate work in Kentucky and Ohio, John Nalbandian brings decades of experience to the federal bench. Guided by his commitment to uphold and protect the Constitution, and as an impartial arbiter of our nation\u2019s laws, I am confident that Mr. Nalbandian will serve the country well on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and I offer him my most sincere congratulations.\u201d\n\nMr. John B. Nalbandian, a Union, Kentucky, resident, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (1991) and University of Virginia School of Law (1994). After a clerkship with Judge Jerry E. Smith on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Houston, Texas, Mr. Nalbandian worked at a private practice in Washington, D.C., and then moved to Kentucky, where he continued his appellate practice at the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm. Mr. Nalbandian graduated from the Leadership Northern Kentucky class in 2003. He has been recognized annually since 2007 by Best Lawyers in America for his work in Appellate Law, and was named a 2016 \u201cLawyer of the Year\u201d for Cincinnati Appellate Practice. He has served as a Special Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court and is a frequent presenter on appellate practice.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:57:05Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-holds-hearing-exposing-wasteful-spending-afghanistan/", "Dr. Rand Paul Holds Hearing Exposing Wasteful Spending in Afghanistan", "2018-05-10", "2018", "2018-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMay 10, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), held a hearing entitled, \u201cAfghanistan in Review: Oversight of U.S. Spending in Afghanistan.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve made it no secret I think we should come home. I think we went in for the right reasons, but we stayed too long. It isn\u2019t our job to build countries, and frankly, I think we do a poor job of it. If you talk to our soldiers, I think they\u2019ll tell you that\u2019s not why they enlisted,\u201d Dr. Paul said in his opening statement.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s subcommittee first heard testimony from John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), regarding waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars, as well as Laurel Miller, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, concerning U.S. assistance to Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cWe have seen much good work done, but we have also reported on far too many instances of poor planning, sloppy execution, theft, corruption, and a lack of accountability,\u201d Special IG Sopko testified. \u201cSome of the most egregious examples SIGAR has identified include DoD\u2019s purchase of nearly a half-billion dollars\u2019 worth of second-hand airplanes from Italy that were unusable and later sold as scrap; the construction of an Afghan security forces training facility that literally melted in the rain; numerous schools, clinics, roads, and other infrastructure built dangerously unsound and with little if any concern for the costs of supplying and sustaining them; and a failed $8.7 billion counter-narcotics effort in a country where poppy cultivation increased by 63% last year alone.\u201d\n\nIn April, Dr. Paul\u2019s Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee directly conducted on-the-ground oversight of U.S. spending in Afghanistan, a mission that consisted of more than a dozen meetings and four off-site visits over the course of two and a half days in the country.\n\nGregory McNeill, Majority Staff Director for the FSO subcommittee, and Sergio Gor, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications for Dr. Paul, reported to the subcommittee on their findings, including wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, lack of oversight on projects, and rampant corruption in the country.\n\nTheir testimony featured examples such as the failed Kabul Marriott hotel, which cost taxpayers nearly $60 million and sits unfinished and abandoned, along with an adjacent apartment building that cost nearly $30 million more. Both now represent a security threat to U.S. Embassy personnel.\n\nThey also found brand-new, unused electrical equipment that was set to be destroyed in an industrial shredder, and they told the subcommittee about a $750 million electrification project that placed towers on land we don\u2019t own without getting consent, and the $210 million Afghanistan Ministry of the Interior, which features issues such as non-functioning air conditioners and an unconnected sprinkler system.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s opening statement HERE and the full hearing HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:57:05Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-help-committee-passes-paul-amendment-permanently-increase-opioid-treatment-access-cap/", "HELP Committee Passes Paul Amendment to Permanently Increase Opioid Treatment Access Cap", "2018-04-24", "2018", "2018-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nApril 24, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s amendment to S. 2680, the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, to permanently increase the cap on the number of patients to whom a doctor can prescribe medication to treat opioid addiction. Dr. Paul introduced this amendment as part of his continuing efforts to improve the federal government\u2019s response to the growing opioid crisis and expand access to treatment, which have also included serving as the lead Republican sponsor of the TREAT Act.\n\n\u201cWe have made considerable progress to ensure that more Americans struggling with opioid abuse can receive treatment, and I applaud the HELP Committee for taking action today to help us gain more ground. I look forward to the full Senate following its lead,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nIn 2016, a final regulation was issued allowing physicians to treat up to 275 patients with buprenorphine, a key component in Suboxone, raising the cap from the previous limit of 100 patients. Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment would codify the increased, 275-patient cap.\n\nThe Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), passed in 2016, included several principles from the TREAT Act, including allowing nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe buprenorphine to treat patients with opioid addiction for the first time.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:54:51Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-secures-promise-pompeo/", "Dr. Rand Paul Secures Promise from Pompeo", "2018-04-23", "2018", "2018-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nApril 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement concerning CIA Director Mike Pompeo\u2019s nomination to be Secretary of State:\n\n\u201cI just finished speaking to President Trump, after speaking to him several times today. I also met with and spoke to Director Pompeo.\n\n\u201cAfter calling continuously for weeks for Director Pompeo to support President Trump\u2019s belief that the Iraq war was a mistake, and that it is time to leave Afghanistan, today I received confirmation that Director Pompeo agrees with President Trump.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump believes that Iraq was a mistake, that regime change has destabilized the region, and that we must end our involvement with Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cHaving received assurances from President Trump and Director Pompeo that he agrees with the President on these important issues, I have decided to support his nomination to be our next Secretary of State.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:54:51Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-penny-plan-balanced-budget/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces \u2018Penny Plan Balanced Budget\u2019", "2018-04-18", "2018", "2018-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nApril 18, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced his own \u201cPenny Plan\u201d federal budget that will balance within five years by assuming the repeal of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and utilizing the \u201cPenny Plan.\u201d Dr. Paul\u2019s budget includes instructions that would pave the way for the expansion of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to help Americans more easily cover their health care costs.\n\n\u201cI ran for office to put a stop to Washington\u2019s out-of-control spending and skyrocketing debt. It\u2019s time for conservatives to govern like conservatives, and my budget plan gives our Republican-controlled Congress a chance to prove to the American people that it is serious about getting our fiscal house in order,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s balanced budget also reforms Congress\u2019 reconciliation and budget processes \u2013 all without making any changes to Social Security. Senate rules allow any senator to offer a budget if Senate leadership and the Budget committee do not report out a budget by April 1. As the bill would be a privileged motion, Dr. Paul\u2019s budget will receive a vote on the Senate floor.\n\nYou can find more background on Dr. Paul\u2019s proposal below, and you can read the bill below. Earlier today, Dr. Paul held a press conference on his budget proposal, and you can watch his remarks HERE.\n\nYou can also find a full budget report HERE. This budget report is a plain-text articulation of what is included in the budget resolution. The report also provides historical context, rationales, and supporting arguments for Dr. Paul\u2019s proposed changes, including those both inside and outside the scope of simply changing spending levels.\n\nDr. Rand Paul\u2019s Balanced Budget:\n\n\u2022 Dr. Paul\u2019s budget simply states that for every on-budget dollar the federal government spent in FY18, excluding the BBA, it spend one penny less for the next five years (at which point balance is reached), with spending then growing at one percent thereafter.\n\n\u2022 Reduces spending by $404.8B in FY19 and by $13.35T over 10 years relative to baseline.\n\n\u2022 Total spending still increases by 14.6 percent over the ten-year window. Only in Washington could a 14.6 percent increase be characterized as a cut.\n\n\u2022 Balances without making any changes to Social Security.\n\n\u2022 Makes no specific policy assumptions \u2013 all the savings are reflected in a new budget function (Function number 930: New Efficiencies, Consolidations, and Other Savings). This budget sets a goal of balance and then calls on Congress to use the tools provided to make the changes in law needed to achieve that objective.\n\nThe BBA of 2018\n\n\u2022 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 raised the discretionary spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 nearly $300 billion. With federal debt over $21 trillion, the negative impact of borrowing more money for this spending outweighs any benefit derived from it.\n\nExpansion of Health Savings Accounts\n\n\u2022 Provides reconciliation instructions to the Senate Finance Committee to allow for expanded HSAs. Senator Paul\u2019s HSA expansion would allow patients to save for their entire out-of-pocket costs and use HSAs to pay premiums, while also widening eligible disbursements to include supplements, over-the-counter medicine, and other activities that promote wellness and reduce the overall cost of health care.\n\nReconciliation and Budget Process Reform\n\n\u2022 Provides reconciliation instructions to all committees with mandatory spending, ensuring every eligible committee participates in the reconciliation process, as was the process\u2019 original purpose.\n\n\u2022 Raises the waiver threshold for all budget points of order so the Senate is held to a higher standard.\n\n\u2022 Makes the budget spending totals enforceable for 10 years instead of just one.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:54:51Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-breaking-fbi-confirms-biased-agents-continue-have-access-sensitive-information/", "BREAKING: FBI Confirms Biased Agents Continue to Have Access to Sensitive Information", "2018-04-11", "2018", "2018-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nApril 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced that he has received a response from the FBI on his January letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding answers about FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page\u2019s current security clearance and access to sensitive information, as well as whether or not the Bureau has a process in place to ensure agents are not using databases for political or personal reasons.\n\nWhile the FBI refused to address specific agents, its response confirmed that all FBI employees maintain a Top Secret security clearance, which allows them to have access to sensitive information.\n\n\u201cIt is outrageous that agents who have been previously caught red-handed expressing their bias against President Trump continue to have access to Americans\u2019 private data,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nYou can read both Dr. Paul\u2019s original letter and the FBI\u2019s response below.\n\nDr. Paul discussed the FBI\u2019s response earlier today on Fox News\u2019 Outnumbered Overtime, and you can watch his interview HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:54:51Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-congress-must-do-better-american-people-0/", "Dr. Rand Paul: \u2018Congress Must Do Better for the American People\u2019", "2018-03-23", "2018", "2018-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMarch 23, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Early Friday morning, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after voting against congressional leaders\u2019 $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill:\n\n\u201cRepublicans control the government, yet Congress still follows the Democrats\u2019 playbook. Time and again, spending skyrockets, and conservatives are expected to fall in line to praise the party for making the big-spending status quo worse.\n\n\u201cI voted against this deficit-spending bill because I believe our promises to change Washington matter. Even in such an enormous bill that combines so many different things, Congress somehow still failed to deliver for President Trump on issues important to grassroots Americans, including defunding sanctuary cities and stopping forced taxpayer support of Planned Parenthood.\n\n\u201cCongress must do better for the American people. We can support our military without further endangering our nation through fiscal recklessness, and I will keep fighting to hold our party to the conservative principles we had no problem proclaiming during the Obama years.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:52:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-announces-opposition-pompeo-haspel-nominations/", "Dr. Rand Paul Announces Opposition to Pompeo, Haspel Nominations", "2018-03-14", "2018", "2018-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMarch 14, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement announcing his opposition to the nominations of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next Secretary of State and Gina Haspel to take over as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency:\n\n\u201cWhat I liked about candidate Trump was his strong condemnation of the Iraq War. I believe President Trump has done a great job, and I continue to support him, but I cannot endorse his nomination of people who loved the Iraq War so much that they want an Iran War next. Director Pompeo has not learned the lessons of regime change and wants regime change in Iran.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t support people who never understood America First and want to manipulate the President into the sphere of the neocons who never met a war they didn\u2019t want to star in.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump sought to break with the foreign policy mistakes of the last two administrations. Yet now he picks for Secretary of State and CIA Director people who embody them, defend them, and, I\u2019m afraid, will repeat them. I will not support their nominations.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Director Pompeo\u2019s stance on foreign policy, Dr. Paul is also concerned about his previous statements supporting the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, and his support for maintaining and expanding the growing surveillance state, including calling in a 2016 Wall Street Journal op-ed for Congress to \u201cpass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database.\u201d1\n\nDr. Paul believes that Gina Haspel\u2019s record on torture, including running a CIA \u201cblack site\u201d prison in Thailand, should disqualify her from consideration for the position.\n\n###\n\n1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/time-for-a-rigorous-national-debate-about-surveillance-1451856106", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:52:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-hsgac-committee-passes-dr-rand-pauls-bonuses-cost-cutters-amendment/", "Senate HSGAC Committee Passes Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Amendment", "2018-03-07", "2018", "2018-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMarch 7, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) passed U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s \u201cBonuses for Cost-Cutters\u201d amendment to H.R. 2825, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act, to incentivize Homeland Security (DHS) employees to report waste and other abuse of taxpayer funds.\n\n\u201cBonuses for Cost-Cutters will encourage those on the front lines of spending to speak out when government fails to properly manage the American people\u2019s money,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cToday, we took a major step forward toward implementing this reform at the Department of Homeland Security as a pilot program, and I look forward to its passage by the full Senate.\u201d\n\nIf passed into law, Dr. Paul\u2019s plan would authorize the DHS Inspector General to pay bonuses of up to $10,000 of savings realized when a federal employee identifies waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds in DHS\u2019 Operations and Support accounts.\n\nIt would also ensure that 90% of the savings are automatically directed toward deficit reduction, with the agency free to apply any remainder toward other agency priorities, subject to current law.\n\nDr. Paul has long championed this proposal to make the federal government a better steward of taxpayer funds, including previously introducing the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act as standalone legislation in the 114th Congress (as S. 1378) and the 115th Congress (as S. 1830). The standalone legislation would apply this cost-saving measure across all federal agencies.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s Bonuses for Cost-Cutters amendment to H.R. 2825 below.\n\nIn addition, the Committee also passed four other amendments offered by Dr. Paul to protect Americans\u2019 constitutional liberties and increase oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.\n\nThese amendments:\n\n\u2013 Reiterate that all intelligence gathering and information sharing activities conducted by DHS are to be carried out in accordance with the Constitution;\n\n\u2013 Streamline the DHS grants program by striking a \u201ccatchall\u201d provision pertaining to allowable uses, appropriately limiting the use of grant funds;\n\n\u2013 Improve and refine the statutory guidance for DHS oversight of the National Network of Fusion Centers, including provisions to track federal funding; require the DHS secretary to provide guidance, training, and technical assistance to ensure fusion centers operate in accordance with and in a manner that protects privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties afforded by the Constitution; and prevent abuse of personal information;\n\n\u2013 Expand the metrics for measuring the effectiveness of DHS grants.\n\nYou can read these amendments below.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:52:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduce-audit-fed-amendment-senate-banking-bill/", "Dr. Rand Paul to Introduce \u2018Audit the Fed\u2019 as Amendment to Senate Banking Bill", "2018-03-05", "2018", "2018-03", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nMarch 5, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul to Introduce \u2018Audit the Fed\u2019 as Amendment to Senate Banking Bill\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 With the U.S. Senate expected to vote on S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, this week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) today announced he will introduce his \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d bill, which would authorize the first-ever thorough audit of the Federal Reserve System, as an amendment to the financial reform legislation.\n\n\u201cWhile we have made great strides in reviving our economy through curbing overzealous regulation and cutting taxes, lasting prosperity will escape us if we do not hold the enabler of big government and our astronomical national debt accountable. It\u2019s time for the Senate to side with the American people by removing the shackles on congressional oversight and lifting the Fed\u2019s veil of secrecy. It\u2019s time for us to pass Audit the Fed,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nIn January 2017, Dr. Paul reintroduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (S. 16), widely known as \u201cAudit the Fed,\u201d to prevent the Federal Reserve from concealing vital information on its operations from Congress. A year earlier, a bipartisan Senate majority voted 53-44 in support of Audit the Fed, falling just short of invoking cloture.\n\nAudit the Fed would require the nonpartisan, independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors and reserve banks within one year of the bill\u2019s passage and to report back to Congress within 90 days of completing the audit.\n\nThe legislation would amend section 714b of Title 31 of the U.S. Code to allow the GAO to fully audit:\n\ntransactions for or with a foreign central bank, government of a foreign country, or nonprivate international financing organization;\n\ndeliberations, decisions, or actions on monetary policy matters, including discount window operations, reserves of member banks, securities credit, interest on deposits, and open market operations;\n\ntransactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee; or", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:52:55Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-senate-help-committee-passes-dr-rand-pauls-amendment-improve-fdas-approval-process/", "Senate HELP Committee Passes Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s Amendment to Improve the FDA\u2019s Approval Process", "2018-02-28", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 28, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s amendment to S. 2434, the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018, to bring greater efficiency to the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s approval process for animal feed additives and help provide more certainty to the animal food manufacturing industry regarding the rules they have to follow.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s farmers and manufacturers are currently faced with a costly, extensive, and repetitive FDA process to get an animal feed additive approved. My amendment would help remove those barriers to success and bring more products to the market without compromising safety, so I am pleased it passed committee today. I look forward to its passage in final legislation in the coming months,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment, which he introduced after hearing about this issue from a Kentucky company, requires the FDA to consider data from studies conducted in other countries when a company submits those studies as part of their food additive petition.\n\nIt also requires the FDA to provide a scientific rationale for why additional studies would be needed to supplement the data they have already submitted, and it would repeal 2007 language that brings uncertainty to the long-standing relationship between state-based feed regulators and the FDA.\n\nYou can find more information on Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment below, including background on the issue:\n\nBackground:\n\n\u2013 The law requires that any substance that is added to or is expected to become a component of animal food, either directly or indirectly, must be used in accordance with a food additive petition, unless it is generally recognized as safe (GRAS).\n\n\u2013 While there is a statutory deadline of 90 days for the FDA to approve or deny the petition, the industry reports that many food additive petitions take between three and five years to reach completion, due in part to a lengthy pre-submission process. This process can consist of meetings and calls between the petitioner and the FDA, the submission of preliminary data packages (\u201cwhite papers\u201d), and the submission of proposed frameworks or \u201cprotocols\u201d for animal studies.\n\n\u2013 In response to a serious pet food contamination and recall, Congress passed language in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) of 2007 requiring the FDA to establish \u201cingredient standards and definitions with respect to pet food.\u201d To date, the FDA has not issued these regulations because of their conflicting nature with the FDA\u2019s responsibilities for food additive petitions under section 409 of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Furthermore, this language has called into question the FDA\u2019s longstanding relationship with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a voluntary membership association that maintains a published list of animal food ingredient definitions.\n\nSummary of Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment:\n\n\u2013 Requires the FDA to review, if submitted by the petitioner, data from studies conducted in foreign countries.\n\n\u2013 Requires the FDA to post the following information on its website: the number of petitions for animal food additives that are pending, and how long those petitions have been pending, as well as the number of animal study protocol proposals that have been pending for over 50 days, and those that have received an extension.\n\n\u2013 Requires the FDA to provide petitioners with information on the required contents of the petition. If they require additional studies beyond what the petitioner has proposed, the FDA must provide a scientific rationale for that requirement.\n\n\u2013 Strikes FDAAA section 1002(a)(1), which requires the FDA to issue regulations establishing \u201cstandards and definitions with respect to pet food,\u201d due to its conflicting nature with the FFDCA and to address the uncertainty it causes for the FDA/AAFCO relationship.\n\n\u2013 Requires the issuance of guidance, within 18 months, to include the recommended format for submission of existing data related to animal food additives, including foreign data, the number of days in which the FDA will respond to such data, circumstances under which the submission of study protocols are recommended, how the FDA will inform the person submitting those protocols if the review will take longer than 50 days, and best practices for communication between the FDA and industry on the development of pre-submission data packages.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-announces-2018-service-academy-nominations/", "Dr. Rand Paul Announces 2018 Service Academy Nominations", "2018-02-16", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 16, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nBOWLING GREEN, KY \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul issued the following statement after announcing his nominations to the U.S. service academies, consisting of 38 individuals from across the Commonwealth of Kentucky:\n\n\u201cA very rewarding aspect of being a United States Senator is the opportunity to nominate young men and women from across the state to attend our nation\u2019s prestigious service academies. I commend each of these students for their dedication and desire to serve in the United States military, and I wish them the best through the remainder of the selection process. I have no doubt the students chosen will proudly represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the service academies.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul nominated the following individuals to the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy:\n\nUnited States Military Academy\n\n\u00b7 Jackson Beal \u2013 Gilbertsville, KY\n\n\u00b7 Clare Beichler \u2013 Berea, KY\n\n\u00b7 William Custer \u2013 Louisville, KY\n\n\u00b7 Nicholas Dennis \u2013 Winchester, KY\n\n\u00b7 Tyler Cooper \u2013 Ft. Campbell, KY\n\n\u00b7 Hayden Handel \u2013 Dry Ridge, KY\n\n\u00b7 Nicholas Kells- Dry Ridge, KY\n\n\u00b7 Isaac Marret \u2013 Lawrenceburg, KY\n\n\u00b7 Joseph Sowards \u2013 Bowling Green, KY\n\n\u00b7 Rachel Wright- Somerset, KY\n\nUnited States Naval Academy\n\n\u00b7 William Custer \u2013 Louisville, KY\n\n\u00b7 John Flesch \u2013 Covington, KY\n\n\u00b7 Ryan Hurley \u2013 Louisville, KY\n\n\u00b7 Spencer Lett \u2013 Ashland, KY\n\n\u00b7 Courtland Mitchell \u2013 Flemingsburg, KY\n\n\u00b7 Luke Nordheim \u2013 Butler, KY\n\n\u00b7 Tayjon Perkins \u2013 Louisville, KY\n\n\u00b7 Ryan Samotis \u2013 Erlanger, KY\n\n\u00b7 William Sweeny \u2013 Lexington, KY\n\n\u00b7 Dominic Tomcheck \u2013 Louisville, KY", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-holds-both-parties-accountable-deserting-fiscal-responsibility/", "Dr. Rand Paul Holds Both Parties Accountable for Deserting Fiscal Responsibility", "2018-02-09", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 9, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Early Friday morning, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted to pass Senate leadership\u2019s budget-busting spending deal:\n\n\u201cTonight, you could feel the frustration and embarrassment growing in Congress as we exposed the hypocrisy of Republicans who are joining in an unholy alliance and spending free-for-all with Democrats at the expense of the American people and our party\u2019s supposed principles. Make no mistake, I will always stand up for fiscal responsibility, regardless of which party is in power, and I will continue to call the Republican Party home to the ideas that led to Americans trusting us with government in the first place.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-blasts-hypocrisy-and-out-control-spending/", "Dr. Rand Paul Blasts Hypocrisy and Out-of-Control Spending", "2018-02-08", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 8, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In a speech on the U.S. Senate floor tonight, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) condemned government\u2019s spending addiction and the hypocrisy it fuels in both parties, blasting a budget deal that adds over $500 billion in spending and debt over the next two years.\n\n\u201cWhen the Democrats are in power, Republicans appear to be the conservative party. But when Republicans are in power, it seems there is no conservative party,\u201d Dr. Paul stated on the floor. \u201cThe hypocrisy hangs in the air and chokes anyone with a sense of decency or intellectual honesty,\u201d he noted.\n\nDr. Paul went on to illustrate how ridiculous spending has become, and how much politicians could cut, by citing examples of government wasting hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars. These include stories of studying how selfies impact happiness, losing track of millions in heavy equipment, and diverting more than $158 million in school lunch assistance to uses such as buying lawn sprinklers and funding a district television station.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s speech HERE.\n\nYou can learn more about the examples of government waste Dr. Paul discussed and see other stories from his Waste Report HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-us-census-adopts-dr-pauls-proposal-correctly-count-deployed-service-members/", "U.S. Census Adopts Dr. Paul\u2019s Proposal to Correctly Count Deployed Service Members", "2018-02-07", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 7, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the U.S. Census Bureau for finalizing a rule change he proposed for the 2020 census. The updated policy would require the Census Bureau to 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.\n\nThe Bureau\u2019s previous method resulted in 2010 census data that improperly represented areas including Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While the region around Fort Campbell had grown greatly since the 2000 census, the 2010 census did not accurately reflect this growth due to the Bureau\u2019s policy on counting deployed service members.\n\n\u201cKentucky is proud of our service members and their families, and I applaud the Census Bureau for following through on a change that will ensure our military communities are properly represented and have the resources they need to continue supporting our military. Every service member deserves to be counted, and today\u2019s action proves concerned citizens can make a difference,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nAfter hearing from local officials and community leaders about the inaccurate reporting, Dr. Paul led the effort to enact change, including contacting the Bureau directly and introducing the \u201cService Members and Communities Count Act\u201d to ensure the correct reporting of all deployed service members. Previously, Dr. Paul\u2019s reform had unanimously passed the Senate multiple times as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).\n\n\u201cWe are excited that the Census Bureau has decided to count military personnel where they live prior to deployment,\u201d said Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Mayor Carter Hendricks. \u201cThis simple change ensures military families are counted in the communities, like Hopkinsville, that work tirelessly to support soldiers and their families. We appreciate Senator Paul\u2019s tireless work and support on this effort!\u201d\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is a victory for our region and our state,\u201d said Kelli Pendleton, President and CEO of Kentucky\u2019s Christian County Chamber of Commerce. \u201cTo have our soldiers counted at the installation where they are stationed during a deployment has a large economic impact on our region. This is an effort we have worked tirelessly on for several years, and we are thrilled with today\u2019s decision. We want to thank Senator Rand Paul and his staff for taking this issue seriously and championing this cause.\u201d\n\nLast year, Dr. Paul wrote U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to urge the finalization of the rule, which the Bureau originally proposed in June 2016.\n\nThe final rule essentially incorporates Dr. Paul\u2019s legislation into the Census Bureau\u2019s rules and creates one consistent and logical method for counting service members deployed overseas.\n\nYou can read the Census Bureau\u2019s announcement HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-chairman-rand-paul-holds-hearing-impact-government-shutdowns/", "Chairman Rand Paul Holds Hearing on Impact of Government Shutdowns", "2018-02-06", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 6, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), held a hearing entitled, \u201cTerrible, No Good, Very Bad Ways of Funding Government.\u201d\n\nThe subcommittee explored the impact on taxpayers of the spending uncertainty politicians create when they repeatedly cause shutdown crises and fund government through Continuing Resolutions and enormous omnibus spending bills. In addition to the costs generated through such tactics, ignoring the regular appropriations process restricts Congress\u2019 ability to conduct proper oversight of government spending and eliminate wasteful spending by federal agencies.\n\n\u201cMissing appropriation deadlines has consequences. It causes uncertainty in agencies and delays plans, which may increase costs to the taxpayer,\u201d Chairman Paul noted during his opening statement.\n\n\u201cI am grateful to the Subcommittee for holding this hearing to call attention to the total breakdown of federal budgetary policy-making,\u201d Dr. Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow in Economics Studies for The Brookings Institution and former OMB Director, said in her testimony. \u201cI believe this breakdown is a serious threat to our democracy and to America\u2019s future prosperity.\u201d\n\nDuring the hearing, Chairman Paul emphasized his Government Shutdown Prevention Act (S. 2339), a solution he introduced in January to incentivize Congress to properly consider and debate spending legislation.\n\nInstead of government shutting down operations over stalled funding in the future, the bill would institute a one-percent cut to then-current funding levels for any agency, program, and activity that Congress failed to fund by the start of the fiscal year (October 1). Every 90 days thereafter, funding would be reduced by another one percent if an agreement is still not enacted.\n\nChairman Paul\u2019s Government Shutdown Prevention Act is available below.\n\nYou can watch Chairman Paul\u2019s opening statement HERE and the entire hearing HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-calls-congress-rein-surveillance-state/", "Dr. Rand Paul Calls for Congress to Rein In Surveillance State", "2018-02-02", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 2, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement after the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released its memo on alleged abuses by the FBI and the Department of Justice:\n\n\u201cWhile I applaud the release of this memo, I also call for Congress to take immediate action to help prevent such behavior in the future. It is imperative it start by listening to Americans who have expressed outrage over its disregard for the Fourth Amendment and reexamining the powers it reauthorized right before we learned of the memo. Continuing to ignore the Constitution will only guarantee that others fall victim to government abusing its domestic surveillance powers.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-demands-answers-fbi-director/", "Dr. Rand Paul Demands Answers from FBI Director", "2018-02-01", "2018", "2018-02", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nFebruary 1, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced that he has sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding answers about FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page\u2019s current security clearance and access to sensitive information, as well as whether or not the Bureau has a process in place to ensure agents are not using databases for political or personal reasons.\n\n\u201cIn light of recent reports describing Peter Strzok and Lisa Page\u2019s extensive discussion, at work, of their political vendetta against President Donald Trump, I am concerned about their continued access to sensitive private information, such as that contained in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) databases,\u201d Dr. Paul wrote.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s letter below:\n\n***\n\nJanuary 30, 2018\n\nDirector Christopher Wray\n\nFederal Bureau of Investigation\n\n935 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.\n\nWashington, D.C. 20535-0001\n\nDirector Wray:\n\nIn light of recent reports describing Peter Strzok and Lisa Page\u2019s extensive discussion, at work, of their political vendetta against President Donald Trump, I am concerned about their continued access to sensitive private information, such as that contained in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) databases.\n\nDo Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page still have security clearances?\n\nDo Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page have the ability to search FISA data or other classified databases?\n\nIs there a process in place to routinely analyze searches of databases by agents to ensure that such searches are not done for political or personal reasons? As you know, in 2013, the National Security Agency\u2019s (NSA) Office of the Inspector General reported several instances of NSA agents who searched NSA databases for information regarding their spouses and love interests.\n\nJames Madison warned that men are not angels. The exposure of political bias at the FBI is exactly why many of us advocate for greater oversight of the FBI, especially since recently passed legislation leaves FISA Section 702 surveillance largely without checks and balances.\n\nIf openly biased agents such as Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page still have access to classified databases, one might argue that the FBI\u2019s internal controls are inadequate.\n\nSincerely,\n\nSenator Rand Paul, M.D.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:50:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-president-trumps-achievements-first-year/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds President Trump\u2019s Achievements in First Year", "2018-01-30", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 30, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Tonight, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement after President Donald Trump delivered the State of the Union address to Congress:\n\n\u201cDuring President Trump\u2019s first year, we lowered Americans\u2019 taxes, eliminated unnecessary regulations, appointed constitutional conservatives to all levels of the judiciary, including seating Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, and achieved conservative reforms in health care, foreign aid, energy, and more. Our economy is growing, businesses are boosting workers\u2019 pay and reinvesting in America, and policies are being crafted with a focus on putting America first. There is still much to be done, but I am excited about the gains we made in the past year, and I look forward to continuing to work with the President to help ensure this is only the beginning.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-votes-protect-life/", "Dr. Rand Paul Votes to Protect Life", "2018-01-29", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 29, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Tonight, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement after voting to support cloture on S. 2311, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that would protect the lives of unborn children by prohibiting elective abortions 20 weeks or later into a pregnancy:\n\n\u201cAs a physician, I was often called to the hospital to treat premature babies and help save their eyesight. Today, as a senator, I continued to protect life at this fragile stage by voting for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. I will always stand up for life,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nIn October 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation by a vote of 237-189, and Dr. Paul is an original cosponsor of the Senate companion. Last year, Kentucky joined a growing list of states in passing similar legislation.\n\nIn January 2017, Dr. Paul reintroduced his Life at Conception Act to declare \u201cthat the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being.\u201d\n\nThe Life at Conception Act, which you can find HERE, does not amend or interpret the Constitution but simply relies on the 14th Amendment, which specifically authorizes Congress to enforce its provisions.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-government-shutdown-prevention-act/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces the Government Shutdown Prevention Act", "2018-01-26", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 26, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Government Shutdown Prevention Act to incentivize Congress to properly consider and debate spending legislation.\n\nInstead of government shutting down operations over stalled funding in the future, the bill would institute a one percent cut to then-current funding levels for any agency, program, and activity that Congress failed to fund by the start of the fiscal year (October 1). Every 90 days thereafter, funding would be reduced by another one percent if an agreement is still not enacted.\n\n\u201cIt is time for Congress to take its job seriously and get its act together on spending. This legislation will stabilize our operations while imposing real restraints to push government toward fiscal responsibility,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nCurrently, Congress does not face any consequences for failing to pass appropriations bills on time. Without such motivation, Congress has demonstrated it will pursue procrastination over prudence and risk shutdowns due to impasses.\n\nIn addition to ensuring government honors its obligations, the legislation will give agencies the certainty of knowing that, in a worst-case scenario, they will always be able to operate with a full year of funding at no less than 96 percent of their current levels.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s Government Shutdown Prevention Act below:\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-paul-applauds-confirmation-rd-james-assistant-secretary-army-civil-works/", "Sen. Paul Applauds Confirmation of R.D. James as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works", "2018-01-25", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 25, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSen. Paul Applauds Confirmation of R.D. James as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul congratulated Kentucky native R.D. James on his confirmation as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and thanked him for his commitment to review specific issues facing Kentucky.\n\nPrior to Assistant Secretary James\u2019 confirmation, Sen. Paul communicated his ongoing efforts to address several current issues involving the Army Corps and Kentuckians, and asked for his assistance in resolving these issues if confirmed.\n\n\u201cI am pleased to congratulate R.D, James on his confirmation as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and appreciate his commitment to review the specific issues with the Army Corps facing the Commonwealth, such as those at Rough River Lake, Lake Cumberland, and Western Kentucky\u2019s small harbors,\u201d said Sen. Paul. \u201cI look forward to his assistance in addressing the issues facing these communities and working together to ensure Kentucky\u2019s land and waterways are not subject to overzealous government regulation.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nSen. Paul has been leading efforts to address the following current issues between Kentucky communities and the Army Corps:\n\nRough River Lake Flowage Easement Encroachment Resolution Plan: This plan, which the previous Army Corps director signed in the final days of the Obama administration, has been a bureaucratic and financial nightmare for residents around Rough River Lake. Last year, the Corps notified hundreds of residents that their homes are in or below the Corps\u2019 easement around the lake, and that the residents are each responsible for paying thousands of dollars in administrative fees, survey fees, and possible costs of structural relocation to comply with the Corps\u2019 demands related to the easement. This is due to the Army Corps improperly measuring their easement around the lake in the 1950s, allowing decades of construction around the lake without any notice to residents, and waiting until 2017 to tell residents that their homes were in violation of their easement.\n\nFor any homeowners who built or lived in homes without notice of the easement, the Corps needs to absorb any costs faced by residents to comply with the Plan, and ensure that residents\u2019 homes are not condemned through eminent domain.\n\nLake Cumberland: For many years, the Army Corps has been attempting to begin a process which will lead to fees on surrounding cities and businesses that use Lake Cumberland for their water supply. A major concern is that entering into long-term water supply contracts with the Corps will result in unaffordable costs being passed onto residents around Lake Cumberland\u2014the $600 million price tag of rehabilitating Wolf Creek Dam is still fresh on their minds. This has been an issue at other lakes around the state, too, including Laurel River Lake and Barren River Lake.\n\nThe Corps needs to seriously consider and determine if there are alternative solutions that do not involve long-term, expensive water supply contracts.\n\nWater levels: Kentuckians from the communities around lakes across the Commonwealth have expressed that lake recreation and tourism would be greatly improved if the lakes could stay open even one week longer before the Corps lowers the lakes to their winter pool levels.\n\nThe Corps districts should allow greater flexibility in keeping the lakes at summer pool levels for economic development in local communities.\n\nSmall harbor dredging: Around Paducah especially, there are several smaller ports that the Corps used to neglect dredging. While over the past few years the ports have been more consistently dredged, this is a continuing priority for Kentucky\u2019s river communities.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-introduces-bill-fund-infrastructure-ending-aid-pakistan/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Bill to Fund Infrastructure by Ending Aid to Pakistan", "2018-01-24", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 24, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced legislation to prohibit the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from sending American taxpayer dollars to Pakistan. Instead, the bill would redirect those funds, amounting to $1.28 billion from the State Department and $852 million from USAID, to the Highway Trust Fund.\n\nU.S. Representatives Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) will be introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House.\n\n\u201cWe fail our responsibilities to protect our country and properly steward taxpayers\u2019 hard-earned money when we support countries that chant \u2018Death to America\u2019 and burn our flag. Let\u2019s bring that money home and use it to help rebuild our infrastructure instead of giving it to a nation that persecutes Christians and imprisons people such as the doctor that helped us get Osama bin Laden,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nEarlier this month, President Trump tweeted his support of Dr. Paul\u2019s proposal.\n\nToday\u2019s introduction of legislation is only the latest effort by Dr. Paul to put Americans first by ending taxpayer support to Pakistan.\n\nIn July 2012, Dr. Paul introduced an amendment to limit foreign assistance to Pakistan unless it released Dr. Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down and kill Osama bin Laden.\n\nDr. Paul introduced another amendment in September 2012 to strike the $4 billion-a-year foreign aid to Pakistan, Egypt, and Libya, which would have then provided an additional $2 billion to the $1 billion jobs bill for veterans and applied the remaining $2 billion to reducing the federal deficit.\n\nLater that month, Dr. Paul secured a vote on standalone legislation cutting the aid contingent upon factors including the release to U.S. authorities of the aggressors who attacked our embassy and consulate in Egypt and Libya, respectively, and the release of Dr. Afridi, with nine other senators joining Dr. Paul.\n\nIn March 2016, Dr. Paul forced the Senate to vote on the sale of $700 million in F-16s to Pakistan, with 23 other senators joining Dr. Paul in opposition to the sale.\n\nAdditionally, Dr. Paul has repeatedly urged Pakistan to reform laws that have led to the targeting of religious minorities, including introducing S. Res. 109 last April to call on Pakistan to end the unjust imprisonment of Pakistani Christian Aasiya Noreen, commonly referred to as Asia Bibi.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s bill below:\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-calls-nation-renew-its-commitment-right-life-1/", "Dr. Rand Paul Calls for Nation to Renew Its Commitment to the Right to Life", "2018-01-19", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Calls for Nation to Renew Its Commitment to the Right to Life\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement honoring the annual March for Life:\n\n\u201cEach life comes to us fragile, a precious gift from our Creator we are entrusted with protecting. Today, the March for Life will remind a government with no shortage of passionate articulators of its responsibility to defend those who cannot plead their own cause. It is a challenge we must heed. May this be the year America stands with the innocent and renews its dedication to the \u2018self-evident\u2019 right to life we proclaimed to the world at our founding.\u201d\n\nIn January 2017, Dr. Paul reintroduced his Life at Conception Act (S. 231) to guarantee equal protection for each unborn life. The legislation does not amend or interpret the Constitution but simply relies on the 14th Amendment, which specifically authorizes Congress to enforce its provisions.\n\nYou can find Dr. Paul\u2019s Life at Conception Act below:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-calls-nation-renew-its-commitment-right-life/", "Dr. Rand Paul Calls for Nation to Renew Its Commitment to the Right to Life", "2018-01-19", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 19, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement honoring the annual March for Life:\n\n\u201cEach life comes to us fragile, a precious gift from our Creator we are entrusted with protecting. Today, the March for Life will remind a government with no shortage of passionate articulators of its responsibility to defend those who cannot plead their own cause. It is a challenge we must heed. May this be the year America stands with the innocent and renews its dedication to the \u2018self-evident\u2019 right to life we proclaimed to the world at our founding.\u201d\n\nIn January 2017, Dr. Paul reintroduced his Life at Conception Act (S. 231) to guarantee equal protection for each unborn life. The legislation does not amend or interpret the Constitution but simply relies on the 14th Amendment, which specifically authorizes Congress to enforce its provisions.\n\nYou can find Dr. Paul\u2019s Life at Conception Act below:\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-waste-report-release-template/", "Waste Report Release Template", "2018-01-18", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 30, 2017\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Continuing his efforts to protect the privacy of Americans\u2019 financial records, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced an amendment to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, to repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).\n\n\u201cAs we work to reduce the massive tax burden Washington has placed on the American people, we should also stand up for their Fourth Amendment right to privacy by rejecting the bulk collection of the financial information of Americans who live overseas,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nEnacted by Congress in 2010, FATCA mandates that foreign financial institutions regularly report private financial information on American citizens living abroad under threat of a 30% withholding tax on U.S.-source income. The law has impeded international financial transactions and investment by leading many foreign banks to simply deny services to Americans rather than navigate the burdens and costs of compliance.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-urges-senate-oppose-cloture-fisa-reauthorization-bill/", "Dr. Rand Paul Urges Senate to Oppose Cloture on FISA Reauthorization Bill", "2018-01-16", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 16, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This evening, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) urged the Senate to support constitutional protections for all Americans by rejecting cloture on the FISA Amendments Reauthorization bill.\n\n\u201cI rise in opposition to the government listening to your phone calls, reading your emails, or reading your text messages without a warrant. It doesn\u2019t mean the government will never do this, but it means they would have to ask a judge. They would have to ask a judge if they have probable cause that you have committed a crime. They would have to name you. They would have to name the information they want. It\u2019s called the Fourth Amendment,\u201d said Dr. Paul.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sens-paul-wyden-lee-and-leahy-urge-senators-oppose-house-passed-fisa-legislation-bipartisan/", "Sens. Paul, Wyden, Lee, and Leahy Urge Senators to Oppose House-Passed FISA Legislation with Bipartisan Letter", "2018-01-12", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 12, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) circulated a letter urging their fellow senators to oppose the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, citing the legislation\u2019s \u201cserious problems\u201d and calling it \u201ca significant step backward\u201d that \u201cdoes nothing substantive to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of innocent Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be clear, FISA\u2019s purpose is to collect foreign intelligence, but without additional meaningful constraints, Congress is allowing the government to use information collected without a warrant against Americans in domestic court proceedings. We have introduced two separate bills which preserve the government\u2019s ability to pursue terrorists abroad and protect the country from foreign threats while also making the necessary reforms to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans here at home,\u201d the senators write.\n\nYou can find the entire letter below:\n\n***\n\nDear Colleague:\n\nWe want to draw your attention to serious problems with the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, which the Senate will be debating next week. This legislation is a significant step backward and does nothing substantive to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of innocent Americans.\n\nThis bill allows an end-run on the Constitution by permitting information collected without a warrant to be used against Americans in domestic criminal investigations. It endorses the possibility that the government will resume \u201cabout\u201d collections on Americans, a practice that the government was actually forced to abandon last year due to significant non-compliance with privacy protections ordered by the FISA Court. And it does nothing to protect innocent Americans from expanding warrantless surveillance.\n\n\u2022 Continuing the \u201cbackdoor\u201d loophole: The bill does nothing for the thousands of Americans whose private communications are searched without a warrant every year, including those who are not even the subject of an investigation. Nor would it prevent unlimited searches for Americans\u2019 information, even for non-national security purposes. The so-called \u201cwarrant requirement\u201d reform in the bill applies only to criminal suspects, and then only to the government\u2019s access to their information at the final stage of an investigation, a situation that, according to the most recent annual data from the Director of National Intelligence, has occurred once. This means that the bill actually treats those suspected of a crime better than innocent Americans.\n\n\u2022 Restarting \u201cAbout\u201d collection: The bill, for the first time, would statutorily recognize the possibility of the government restarting \u201cabout\u201d collection, essentially by default, which would necessarily include warrantless collection of communications to and from Americans for whom there is no suspicion at all. The government was forced to abandon this problematic form of collection last year due to extensive compliance problems, and should not be allowed to resume it without specific Congressional approval.\n\n\u2022 Unreviewable end use: The bill grants new, unchecked powers to the Attorney General to allow data collected without a warrant to be used in domestic criminal prosecutions of Americans. The Attorney General merely has to determine that a criminal proceeding \u201caffects, involves, or is related to the national security of the United States\u201d or involves a \u201ctransnational crime.\u201d Alarmingly, the bill explicitly prohibits any challenge to the Attorney General\u2019s decision.\n\nTo be clear, FISA\u2019s purpose is to collect foreign intelligence, but without additional meaningful constraints, Congress is allowing the government to use information collected without a warrant against Americans in domestic court proceedings. We have introduced two separate bills which preserve the government\u2019s ability to pursue terrorists abroad and protect the country from foreign threats while also making the necessary reforms to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans here at home.\n\nThe FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, however, further expands the risks of unconstitutional spying on innocent Americans, and we encourage you to join us in opposition to this bill. We believe that a clean, short-term extension would be markedly preferable to this legislation. Section 702 was last extended for the length of the Continuing Resolution; if Leadership does not allow any amendments to the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act and it does not pass this coming week, then Section 702 authorities can be extended again on the next Continuing Resolution to allow the Senate to fully debate how to appropriately reform this powerful surveillance tool.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-pledges-continue-fight-protect-americans-privacy/", "Dr. Rand Paul Pledges to Continue Fight to Protect Americans\u2019 Privacy", "2018-01-11", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 11, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to protect Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment rights and instead passed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act to further entrench growing surveillance state powers:\n\nToday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a flawed bill that will continue the warrantless surveillance of innocent Americans. No American should have their right to privacy taken away. I will keep doing everything in my power, including filibuster, to oppose this legislation and to speak out and stand up for forcing the government to get a warrant based on probable cause, as required by the Constitution,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nIn October 2017, Sens. Paul and Wyden introduced S. 1997, the USA Rights Act, in the Senate to end warrantless backdoor searches of Americans\u2019 calls, emails, texts, and other communications that are routinely swept up under a program designed to spy on foreign targets. U.S. Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) sponsored the USA Rights Act amendment in the U.S. House.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-icymi-dr-rand-paul-demands-end-warrantless-surveillance-americans-bipartisan-bicameral-press/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Demands End to Warrantless Surveillance on Americans at Bipartisan, Bicameral Press Conference", "2018-01-10", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 10, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This morning, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joined a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives and senators, including U.S. Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), for a press conference in support of the USA Rights Act amendment to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and protect Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment rights.\n\nIn October 2017, Sens. Paul and Wyden introduced the USA Rights Act in the Senate to end warrantless backdoor searches of Americans\u2019 calls, emails, texts, and other communications that are routinely swept up under a program designed to spy on foreign targets. Representative Amash is sponsoring the amendment in the U.S. House.\n\n\u201cWe need more oversight of the intelligence community, not less,\u201d Dr. Paul stated at the event, later adding, \u201cWe need to make sure, because men are not angels, that there are rules.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is a bedrock principle of our country \u2013 it\u2019s what brings Republicans and Democrats together \u2013 is that the Bill of Rights requires that information be gathered under the Fourth Amendment with probable cause. Naming the person. Naming the papers. So we want the Constitution to apply to Americans,\u201d Dr. Paul also noted.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-administration-follow-through-expanding-access-association-health-plans/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Administration Follow-Through on Expanding Access to Association Health Plans", "2018-01-04", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 4, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the Department of Labor\u2019s announcement of its proposed rule expanding access to Association Health Plans (AHP), a reform Dr. Paul has championed throughout the debate over the future of health care and worked directly with President Trump and administration officials to achieve.\n\nIn October 2017, Dr. Paul joined President Trump at the White House for the signing of an executive order paving the way for the change, which would increase competition and allow more Americans to join in groups to purchase lower-cost health insurance across state lines.\n\n\u201cFor the past year, I have worked with the President and his administration to dramatically increase the availability of health care while at the same time decrease the costs. I applaud the administration for its action today, and I look forward to the finalization of the proposed rule. Conservative health care reform is alive and well, and I will keep working with President Trump to build on this progress,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe Department of Labor\u2019s proposed rule would expand the types of groups that can form an AHP and allow for membership across state lines. It would also allow self-employed individuals who have no other employees to take part in a large-group AHP, including a self-insured AHP.\n\nThe rule would continue to ensure Americans are not denied coverage or charged higher rates due to pre-existing conditions.\n\nIn addition to his work on the federal level to support expanding Association Health Plans, Dr. Paul has extensively traveled Kentucky to meet with business owners and employees regarding his proposal.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-trump-administration-halting-wasteful-aid-pakistan/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Trump Administration for Halting Wasteful Aid to Pakistan", "2018-01-02", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 2, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the Trump administration for its decision to maintain its block on sending $255 million in military aid to Pakistan and reiterated his support for President Trump\u2019s tweet on Monday that Pakistan has given the U.S. \u201cnothing but lies & deceit\u201d in exchange for billions of aid, with the President declaring, \u201cNo more!\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot in good conscience look away as America crumbles at home, and politicians tax us to send the money to corrupt and duplicitous regimes abroad. I wholeheartedly agree with President Trump on this. The U.S. has given $34 billion in direct aid and military reimbursements to Pakistan since 2002. That is not putting America first, and I will introduce new legislation in the coming days to stop aid to Pakistan,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nAs part of his efforts to stop government\u2019s waste and abuse of the American people\u2019s money, Dr. Paul has long worked to end taxpayer support to Pakistan.\n\nIn July 2012, Dr. Paul introduced an amendment to limit foreign assistance to Pakistan unless it released Dr. Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down and kill Osama bin Laden.\n\nDr. Paul introduced another amendment in September 2012 to strike the $4 billion-a-year foreign aid to Pakistan, Egypt, and Libya, which would have then provided an additional $2 billion to the $1 billion jobs bill for veterans and applied the remaining $2 billion to reduce the federal deficit.\n\nLater that month, Dr. Paul secured a vote on standalone legislation cutting the aid contingent upon factors including the release to U.S. authorities of the aggressors who attacked our embassy and consulate in Egypt and Libya, respectively, and the release of Dr. Afridi, with nine other senators joining Dr. Paul.\n\nIn March 2016, Dr. Paul forced the Senate to vote on the sale of $700 million in F-16s to Pakistan, with 23 other senators joining Dr. Paul in opposition to the sale.\n\nAdditionally, Dr. Paul has repeatedly urged Pakistan to reform laws that have led to the targeting of religious minorities, including introducing S. Res. 109 last April to call on Pakistan to end the unjust imprisonment of Pakistani Christian Aasiya Noreen, commonly referred to as Asia Bibi.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 86, "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": "2018"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2018", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 86, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2018&party=Republican", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2018", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 86, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2018", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2018", "results": [{"value": "KY", "label": "KY", "count": 86, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2018", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2018", "results": [{"value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 86, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": null, "next_url": null, "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 161.91026428714395, "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"}