Utah Sen. Mike Lee Backs Trump Decision To Withdraw From Paris Accord
Philadelphia (CBS) - Utah Sen. Mike Lee appeared on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT to support President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords.
Lee told Chris Stigall that he thought former President Barack Obama made a mistake signing onto the agreement last year.
"This is not a good deal. It was not a good idea to do this a few years ago and it's not a good idea now. It hasn't improved with time. If President Obama felt so strongly about this, felt so strongly about binding the United States to an international agreement, he should've submitted it as a treaty at the time he put it forward. He didn't do that, but it remains a bad deal now, as it was then."
During a segment on The Rich Zeoli Show, he stated the pact did not have the support needed to pass as a treaty and praised Trump for taking decisive action.
"On of the important things the Constitution does is to make clear that the President himself cannot commit the United State to an international treaty without the Senate ratification. That takes two-thirds of the Senate concurring in that. One of the reasons President Obama didn't submit the Paris agreement to the Senate for ratification is he knew the votes weren't there. He knew it would fail. So he didn't do it. This is one of the many reasons why I praised President Trump in taking this action, he pulls us out of that agreement."
Discussing his new book, Written Out Of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government, with Dom Giordano, Lee said it is important to remember the Constitution's role in limiting the power of Washington, D.C.
"The focus of the Constitution always needs to be on its limitations that it imposes on government. We have a sanitized, cleansed version of the Constitution and of the founding of this country that's been spoon fed to us over the last few decades, one that doesn't focus on these risks of government. Government is something that's necessary, but it's also very dangerous. Just like fire, it has to be kept carefully in check."