Lexington Herald-Leader Op-Ed: "We must get our spending under control. We can start by saving pennies."

When I ran to be your senator, I promised to stand apart in Washington.

I gave Kentucky my word to fight back against endless spending and debt, and it’s a commitment I have proudly kept since my first day in office. It’s meant confronting long odds and not winning the “most popular” vote in the halls of Congress all that often, but it’s always been worth the trade-off.

While some would say it’s “unrealistic” to expect things to change any time soon, I haven’t given up. This week I reintroduced a concrete plan to get spending under control right away and balance the budget...Read more

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Fox News Op-Ed: "I support President Trump, but I can't support this National Emergency Declaration"

In September of 2014, I had these words to say: "The president acts like he's a king. He ignores the Constitution. He arrogantly says, 'If Congress will not act, then I must.'

Donald J. Trump agreed with me when he said in November 2014 that President Barack Obama couldn’t make a deal on immigration so “now he has to use executive action, and this is a very, very dangerous thing that should be overridden easily by the Supreme Court.”

I would literally lose my political soul if I decided to treat President Trump different than President Obama. (Although, I’ll note...Read more

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Bowling Green Daily News Op-Ed: "Fight against waste in Washington a continuing battle"

If you’ve read one of my Waste Reports, you know how much I hate when government carelessly spends your hard-earned tax dollars.

With a skyrocketing debt surpassing $21 trillion, our leaders have to be more responsible with prioritizing our limited money to address our country’s needs. Why are bridges and roads crumbling here while our government spends money to develop a television show in Afghanistan? How are teaching Rwandan special interest groups to lobby or supporting asset seizure programs in Paraguay more dire priorities than funding our own government?

These aren’t...Read more

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Townhall Op-Ed: "Dangers to Dissidents"

The brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi has opened a window into the world of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reminded us that there are many places in the world where disagreeing with your government is a death sentence.

I break with the administration on their response to this killing for many reasons.  If Saudi Arabia is not held accountable for the barbaric murder of Khashoggi, what will it mean for the fate of other dissidents held in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere who are being held without trial?  What message does it send to kingdoms and...Read more

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Breitbart: "‘Not One Penny’ of Aid for Pakistan Until Asia Bibi Is Freed"

“I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind.”

These are words that many Christians have said, or something similar. Even if you haven’t said them, you most certainly believe in your neighbor’s right to say them. But for too many people around the globe, words such as these can be a death sentence. I’ve made it a personal mission of mine in office to stop the United States from funding or being allied with places that persecute Christians.

One such case is Pakistan and the story of Asia Bibi, a Christian who was on death row...Read more

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The Hill Op-Ed: "We need a bipartisan issue to unite us. Saudi Arabia is that issue"

After a heated and divisive midterm campaign season, now is the perfect time to work together on an issue that has real bipartisan support: immediately stop future arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
 
The horrendous murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the attempted cover-up were just the most recent in a series of transgressions committed by the Saudi regime, and Americans are starting to wise up to their actions. The growing outrage among politicians in particular is long overdue. For too long, Washington has allowed the Saudis to get a pass because they are a financial ally...Read more

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Fox News Op-Ed: "It's time to rethink America's relationship with Saudi Arabia -- It is not our friend"

It’s time to rethink America’s relationship with the Saudi Kingdom.

It is no surprise to most Americans that we help arm, train, equip and otherwise prop up the government of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have long bought and paid for many politicians and for an image of moderate pro-Americanism as part of the face they show the world.

But the face presented simply is not reality. It is time to use our leverage to force change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We can start by cutting off our military aid and weapons sales to the kingdom.

The killing of Saudi dissident...Read more

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The Atlantic Op-Ed: "Stop Military Aid to Saudi Arabia"

By now you’ve seen the headlines: An American resident, a Saudi Arabian journalist who wrote for The Washington Post, has gone missing abroad and is presumed dead. Jamal Khashoggi was last seen walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish security officials believe he was killed “on the orders of the Saudi royal court,”...Read more

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The Hill Op-Ed: "Situation in Yemen should lead us to return to a constitutional foreign policy"

“Made in America” has meant a lot of things over the years, and it can mean different things depending on your perspective. Unfortunately, if you live in Yemen, you are the latest in a long line of places for whom that phrase means war, weapons and destruction.

One of the main goals I have in serving in the U.S. Senate is to bring back a constitutional foreign policy — that means Congress debates and votes on war. For far too long, we have been involved in wars, police actions, nation-building, and conflicts that are done without proper authority, and I believe we are worse off for...Read more

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The Atlantic Op-Ed: "The U.S. Must Engage With Russia"

On my recent trip to Russia, I spent an hour with Mikhail Gorbachev. I told him that in the West we are grateful that he and President Ronald Reagan defied Cold War orthodoxy to significantly reduce our countries’ nuclear arms. And I asked him whether there was a moment in his life when he’d realized that he might shape history.

He paused a moment and then recounted how as a young man, he had watched a film on the devastation that would occur with nuclear war. He and the other young officials in the room looked at each other in shock as the film concluded.

Gorbachev recalled...Read more

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