A Brief History of How Sen. Mike Lee Has Legislated Against Latinos, Women, and Disabled People

“Sen. Mike Lee’s obstruction is disgraceful but typical. Senate has failed for months to provide COVID relief,” the Hispanic Caucus said.

The recent voting record of Republican Sen. Mike Lee shows the Utah lawmaker has an issue with honoring Latinos, celebrating women’s achievements, and giving social security benefits to the disabled. 

On Dec. 2, Sen. Lee voted against the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act, which would allow disabled people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) to receive immediate access to their social security benefits rather than wait five months. The bill ultimately passed without his support.  

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On Dec. 11, Sen. Lee voted against two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women. His vote single-handedly blocked both initiatives. The House of Congress had already approved both museum initiatives. 

His reasoning for justifying why the two proposed Smithsonian museums on Latinos and women are not needed is because the “last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.” 

Latino Lawmakers Express Frustration

In response to his rejection of the National Museum of the American Latino, the Hispanic Caucus said, “Latinos have contributed to America’s success while overcoming systemic exclusion—our stories and culture have been erased from US history and deserve a #LatinoMuseum.” 

The Hispanic Caucus also added, “@SenMikeLee’s obstruction is disgraceful but typical. Senate has failed for months to provide COVID relief.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also stated a similar sentiment, tweeting, “No movement on COVID in the Senate but good to know Utah Sen. Mike Lee is spending his time today giving speeches about why Latinos shouldn’t have a national history museum and oh, while we’re at it, why there shouldn’t be a women’s history museum either.”

Latino lawmakers and celebrities have been pushing the National Museum of the American Latino for years. Estuardo Rodríguez, president and CEO of Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, told NBC News that their fight would continue. 

“We are confident that we can still move this bill forward and will work with members of the House and Senate, from both sides of the aisle to make the American Latino Museum a reality,” Rodríguez said.

What About COVID Relief? Sen. Lee Says There’s No Deal. 

Congress has been attempting to push another COVID relief package, but no deal has been approved. On Dec. 11, an emerging $900 billion COVID-19 aid package from a bipartisan group of lawmakers all but collapsed after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators wouldn’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.

RELATED: These Huge COVID Relief Programs Are All About to Expire. It Couldn’t Come at a Worse Time.

Sen. Lee didn’t seem too pressed to vote on a COVID relief package anytime soon. He told KUTV: “There’s a lot of good things that can be accomplished with the bill, right now there is no bill. It’s not that there’s no final deal, there’s no deal at all. There’s a lot of competing rumors about competing variations of the bill that could materialize. We will see what happens.”