Politics & Government

CPAC: What A U.S. Senator Has In Common With Mariano Rivera

Utah U.S. Senator Mike Lee addressed an audience of conservative political activists in St. Charles Saturday.

The 11th hour negotiations over a federal budget agreement kept most all of the elected members of the U.S. House and Senate who had been slated to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference from appearing at the St. Charles event Saturday. 

Congress was in session over the weekend ahead of Monday's deadline to pass a budget without a budget shutdown.

But the American Conservative Union's confab still drew someone at the heart of the tug of war over those negotiations over whether to tie funding of the government to funding for the Affordable Care Act. U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), who along with Texas Senator Mike Lee has taken up the cause to defund the ACA, which will see some provisions go into effect Tuesday.

Senator Lee entered the St. Charles Convention Center ballroom Saturday morning to the music of Metallica's anthem Enter Sandman, the same song used to introduce New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera.

Lee joined Cruz in the Senate this week when Cruz held the floor for more than 20 hours in the Democrat-controlled body to rally support for defunding "ObamaCare". The GOP-controlled U.S. House passed a budget bill that includes provisions for defunding ObamaCare but was expected Saturday to vote on a new budget bill that delays the President's health care legislation. 

While Lee and Cruz have been accused by Democrats and some in their own party of grandstanding, he received a standing ovation from the crowd here Saturday.

"This has been an interesting week in Washington. It's been a difficult week and its not over," Senator Lee said.

 


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