Mike Lee (U.S. politician)

Mike Lee
United States Senator from Utah
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011 Serving with Orrin Hatch
Preceded by	Bob Bennett
Personal details
Born	Michael Shumway Lee June 4, 1971 (1971-06-04) (age 40) Mesa, Arizona
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Sharon Lee
Children	3
Residence	Alpine, Utah
Alma mater	Brigham Young University (B.S., J.D.)
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Website	http://lee.senate.gov/public/

Michael Shumway "Mike" Lee (born June 4, 1971) is the junior United States Senator from Utah and a member of the Republican Party. He is supported by the Tea Party movement.

Lee has been a constitutional lawyer in Utah and Washington, D.C, in addition to serving as a clerk for then-Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr.. His father, Rex E. Lee, was the founding dean of Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School.

At the age of 40, Lee is the youngest current U.S. senator.

Early life and education

Lee was born in Mesa, Arizona on June 4, 1971. His family moved to Provo, Utah one year later when his father, Rex E. Lee, became the founding dean of Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School. While Lee spent about half of his childhood years in Utah, he spent the other half in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. His father served first as an Assistant U.S. Attorney General (overseeing the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice during the Ford Administration) from 1975 until 1976, and then as the U.S. Solicitor General (charged with representing the United States government before the Supreme Court during the first term of the Reagan Administration) from 1981 until 1985.

Growing up Lee went to school with Senator Strom Thurmond's daughter and lived three doors down from Senator Robert Byrd. He was friends with Harry Reid's son Josh. Senator Reid was the Lees' home teacher, a spiritual leader in the Mormon faith. Lee recalls as a child how Senator Reid once locked him and Josh in their garage as a practical joke. ^[1]

After graduating from Timpview High School (Provo, Utah) in 1989, Mike attended Brigham Young University as an undergraduate student, receiving a B.S. in Political Science in 1994. He served as the President of BYUSA, a prominent student service organization, during the 1993–1994 school year.

Legal career

After graduating from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1997, Lee served as a law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The following year, he clerked for then-Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who was serving at that time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court in Newark, New Jersey. After finishing his clerkships, Lee joined the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin, where he specialized in appellate and Supreme Court litigation. Several years later, Lee returned to Utah to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City, preparing briefs and arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He served as general counsel to Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. from January 2005 until June 2006, when he returned to Washington to serve a one-year clerkship at the U.S. Supreme Court with Justice Alito.

Lee returned to Utah (and to private practice) in the summer of 2007, joining the Salt Lake office of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Howrey LLP. Lee focused on courtroom advocacy and constitutional law.

As an attorney, Lee also represented Class A low-level radioactive waste facility provider EnergySolutions Inc.

U.S. Senate

2010 election

Lee ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010. At the Republican State Convention on the first ballot he received 982 votes (28.75%) defeating Tim Bridgewater and incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. Bridgewater, however won the second and third ballots to win the party endorsement. Both Bridgewater and Lee received enough support to have their names placed on the primary ballot.

In the primary election, held on June 22, 2010, Lee became the Republican nominee by winning 51 percent of the vote against Bridgewater's 49 percent.^[2]

The general election was held on November 2, 2010. Lee won the election with 62 percent of the vote to Granato's 33 percent and Bradley's 6 percent.^[1]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Subcommittee on African Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Global Narcotics Affairs
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights
• Joint Economic Committee

Political positions

Patriot Act

In February 2011, Lee was one of two Republicans, along with Rand Paul of Kentucky, to vote against extending three key provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.^[3] He would again do the same in May 2011.

Social Security reform

In April of 2011, Lee joined with Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and fellow Senate Tea Party Caucus member Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) to propose a plan that would extend the financial viability of the U.S. Social Security retirement payment system.^[4] The three senators' reform proposal (called the Social Security Solvency and Sustainability Act) was notable because it did not propose any tax increases to ensure solvency.^[5] Instead, it suggested that the $5.4 trillion difference between what was then funded and what had been promised could be eliminated by increasing the retirement age to 70 by the year 2032, and slightly reducing the benefits paid to upper-income recipients.^[6]

Personal life

Lee married Sharon Burr in 1993. They live in Alpine, Utah and have three children.

Lee is a second cousin to current U.S. Senators Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico, as well as former Senator Gordon H. Smith of Oregon.^[7]

Lee has served on the BYU alumni board, the BYU Law School alumni board, and as a long-time member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served as a Mormon missionary in the Texas Rio Grande Valley from 1990 to 1992.

Lee earned the Eagle Scout award from Boy Scouts of America in 1989 and was selected to receive the National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) in 2011.^[8]

See also

• Lee-Hamblin family

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rucker, Philip (February 5, 2011). "Sen. Mike Lee: A political insider refashions himself as tea party revolutionary". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020406719.html. 
2. ^ Gehrke, Robert (2010-06-23). "Lee clinches GOP Senate nomination - Salt Lake Tribune". Sltrib.com. http://sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49810581-73/bridgewater-company-election-lee.html.csp. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
3. ^ Sonmez, Felicia (2011-02-15). "Senate passes short-term extension of Patriot Act provisions". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/senate-to-vote-tuesday-on-shor.html. Retrieved 2010-02-17. 
4. ^ Matt Canham (April 13, 2011). "Lee unveils Social Security reform plan". Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51620238-90/lee-security-social-benefits.html.csp. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
5. ^ Viviane Vo-Duc (April 14, 2011). "Sens. Lee, Paul and Graham: We can fix Social Security without raising taxes". Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705370551/Sens-Lee-Paul-and-Graham-We-can-fix-Social-Security-without-raising-taxes.html?s_cid=rss-30. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
6. ^ "Lee, others: raise social security age to 70". St. George Daily Spectrum. April 13, 2011. http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20110413/NEWS01/110413004/Lee--others--raise-social-security-age-to-70-. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
7. ^ Lee Davidson (October 24, 2010). "Senate race: Mike Lee ready to ride Senate roller coaster". The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/printerfriendly.csp?id=50417123. 
8. ^ "Eagles Nest NOESA". NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award. Boy Scouts of America, Utah National Parks Council. http://www.utahscouts.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=41715&orgkey=2196. Retrieved 6 September 2011. 

External links

• Senator Mike Lee official U.S. Senate website
• Mike Lee for Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

Party political offices
Preceded by Bob Bennett	Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Utah (Class 3) 2010	Most recent
United States Senate
Preceded by Bob Bennett	United States Senator (Class 3) from Utah 2011–present Served alongside: Orrin Hatch	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Richard Blumenthal D-Connecticut	United States Senators by seniority 98th	Succeeded by Kelly Ayotte R-New Hampshire
Honorary titles
Preceded by George LeMieux	Youngest Member of the United States Senate January 3, 2011 – present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Lee, Michael S.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 4, 1971
Place of birth	Mesa, Arizona
Date of death
Place of death