On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and strongly encourage them to cosponsor the Global Trade Accountability Act of 2017, S. 177, introduced by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah). The Global Trade Accountability Act would require congressional review of any imposition of duties or other trade measures by the executive branch.

FreedomWorks has selected H.R. 5360, the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act, as our bill of the month for October 2016. Introduced by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), this legislation will bring much-needed reform to federal entitlements, which account for nearly 50% of federal spending. This rate of federal spending and the welfare state designed by leftists are both unsustainable and impractical. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced the Senate companion bill, S. 3047.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our Bill of the Month for September 2016 is S.1541, the Transportation Empowerment Act introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and its House counterpart, H.R. 2716 introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla). These bills respect the principles of federalism, would cut the federal gas tax, and reduce bureaucracy. Talk about making freedom work.

Weldon Angelos’s story has become known around the country as a horrifying example of how harsh mandatory minimums can ruin the lives of non-violent criminals and their families. Angelos was sentenced in 2004 to 55 years for drug-related crimes. Judge Paul G. Cassell, who handed down the sentence, was vocal about his frustration with a system that would have Angelos spend the rest of his life incarcerated while child rapists and airplane hijackers received significantly shorter sentences.

Perhaps the cocktails preceding yesterday's welcome dinner at the American Constitution Society's annual convention are to blame, but when Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren addressed the dinner, they appeared to be suffering from memory problems. As they spoke about the Senate's handling of President Obama's judicial nominees and Donald Trump's remarks concerning a Mexican-American judge, their memory lapses were too numerous to discuss in a single post. But here are several examples:

The regulatory state has grown into the fourth branch of government. Executive branch agencies act with impunity, without accountability to Congress or to the voters. The Secretaries of Education, Energy, and Health and Human Services are basically unelected lawmakers who have the power to dramatically affect the lives and prosperity of every American citizen.