Utah and the country have lost a man of great character and faith with the passing of Senator Orrin Hatch. Senator Romney, who holds Senator Hatch’s Senate seat, honored the life and legacy of his friend with a speech on the Senate floor.
With inflation reaching 8.5% nationally and 10.4% in Utah, many Americans are having a hard time making ends meet. Senator Romney started the week by writing an opinion in the Wall Street Journal that urged President Biden to shift his focus from progressive wish-list projects to serious issues facing Americans, like tackling historic inflation.
Senator Romney led a bipartisan group of his colleagues in negotiating a COVID-19 preparedness bill that repurposes unused pandemic relief funds and wouldn’t cost the American taxpayer a single additional dollar. Ultimately, this bipartisan COVID bill was hampered by Senate Democrat leadership who refused to allow for any type of amendment process.
Senator Romney led the Republican effort in the Senate in negotiating a bipartisan COVID-19 preparedness bill that doesn’t increase the debt by repurposing unspent COVID relief funds. Amid the negotiations, Senator Romney warned the Biden Administration of the imminent damage to the economy by ignoring the increasing deficit.
Senator Romney continued his push to increase support to the Ukrainian people by providing the advanced weaponry that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting from the United States and its allies. Meanwhile, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her nomination hearing to serve on the Supreme Court.
Senator Romney continued to urge Administration officials to step up support for Ukraine’s efforts to defend their freedom and their sovereignty—including the urgent transfer of aircraft, such as MiG-29s, and air defense systems to Ukraine.
Senator Romney continued to press the Administration to fulfill President Zelenskyy’s request—leading 41 of his Senate colleagues in urging President Biden to expedite the transfer of aircraft to Ukraine without further delay. He also spoke out against the Administration’s consideration of purchasing oil from adversarial nations like Venezuela and Iran before bolstering America’s own energy production.
I join the world in awe of true heroes: the courageous Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the brave Ukrainian soldiers, the citizen armies, the mothers cradling frightened children, and the journalists risking their lives to bring us truth.
Senator Romney joined his colleagues in taking a hard stance against Russia’s aggression and predation in Ukraine. He also warned about another threat to our national and economic security: the impending insolvency of the federal trust funds and our country’s burgeoning national debt.
Senator Romney discussed critical paths forward on implementing the bipartisan infrastructure bill—ensuring it will be implemented as Congress intended. The Senator also joined 2002 Olympic Committee leadership and alumni, Olympians, families, and Utahns in commemorating 20 years since the Winter Games in Salt Lake.
Senator Romney continued advocating for foreign policy positions that promote America’s interests abroad—including a unified response with our allies toward Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games amid China’s egregious human rights abuses.
Senator Romney joined his colleagues in voting against Democrats’ partisan elections reform, and applauded the courage of his Democratic colleagues, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, for voting to maintain the filibuster.