WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor calling on Senate Democrats to allow energy proposals that focus on helping the Middle Class:

“Once again, the Majority Leader is shutting down the voice of the people in the Senate.

“For seven long years, he’s refused to allow a truly comprehensive debate on energy in this chamber.

“He had a chance to change that yesterday.

“Dozens of Senators asked him to do it. We know the American people want us to do it.

“But he refused.

“Apparently, he doesn’t think the American people deserve a vote on a single energy amendment. Apparently, he doesn’t think the American Middle Class — which is being squeezed by rising energy costs and over-the-top government regulations — needs the kind of relief Republicans are proposing.

“And he clearly must not think the people of Eastern Kentucky deserve our help either. Kentuckians in the eastern part of my state are experiencing a depression that the President’s energy policies are making worse. And now, the Administration has proposed new rules that would make life even harder for them – rules that would make it effectively impossible to build another coal plant anywhere in the country. Coal is a vital industry to our economy and to the livelihoods of thousands of people in my state. We should be allowed to help them.

“But the Majority Leader said no.

“And let’s be honest: he doesn’t seem to think the people we represent deserve a say on much of anything anymore.

“Democrats over in the Republican-controlled House have received 125 amendment votes since last July.

“But here in the Senate, the Democrat Majority has allowed our constituents just nine — nine amendments since last July.

“It’s shameful.

“But it says a lot about which party is serious these days and which one is just playing games.

“And it says a lot about the complete lack of confidence Washington Democrats have in open debate.

“They’re completely out of ideas — and apparently they don’t want anybody to know that Republicans aren’t.

“So they’re attempting to muzzle us, at a time when Middle class Americans are in need of some relief.

“I mean, do they really believe that Americans who’ve had to cope with rising electricity prices, stagnant wages, and growing hopelessness in the Obama Economy, do they really believe the Senate shouldn’t even be debating ideas that might help them? It’s hard to see it otherwise.

“So I think Middle Class Americans looking at the Senate these days are left to draw an obvious conclusion: that their concerns matter far less to today’s Senate Democrats than the political imperatives of the Far Left.

“We know the President’s political team must be pleased. One White House aide said they planned to lean on Senate Democrats to ‘get the right outcome’ this week – in other words, to stop the American people from having a real debate on energy policies.

“For the President and his political pals, it must feel like Mission Accomplished.

“This means he can avoid having to sign or veto legislation that might be good for the Middle Class but offensive to the furthest orbits of the Left. It also means he can continue to impose energy regulations like the ones I mentioned earlier through the back door – to govern by executive fiat without having to worry about niceties like democratic accountability.

“After all, Far Left activists presumably demand that the President impose those regulations because they don’t want the American people getting in the way again. They know what happened the last time they let that happen – when a fully Democrat-controlled Congress couldn’t even pass a national energy tax. 

“And as long as it has a Senate Democrat Majority on its side, the Far Left knows it won’t have to worry about the American people messing up its plans again.

“The Majority Leader proved that again this week.

“And the Far Left won’t have to worry about the representatives of the American people voting through the Keystone XL Pipeline either.

“Here you have a project that the American people support overwhelmingly, that would create thousands of jobs when we’ve rarely needed them more, and that would pass Congress easily if the Majority Leader would just allow a vote.

“But he won’t. Because the Far Left won’t let him. And if we do get a vote, the Democrat leadership would be sure to filibuster against the jobs the Keystone XL Pipeline would create.

“Activists on the Left positively hate this energy jobs initiative. They rail against it constantly, even though they can’t seem to explain in a serious way why it’s a bad idea.

“But it’s a symbol in their minds. So they demand Senate Democrats block its approval. And Senate Democrats dutifully do just that

“Again and again, we see the needs of the Middle Class subsumed to the whims of the Left.

“That’s become the legacy of today’s Democrat Majority.

“They’ve diminished the vital role the Senate plays in our democracy.

“We just don’t seem to debate or address the most serious issues anymore, even with significant events at home and abroad that deserve our attention.

“Because for the Senate Democrats who run the place, the priority isn’t really on policy – it’s on show votes and political posturing, 24/7.

“This reflects a party that’s simply run out of ideas, that’s failed to fix the economy after five and half years of trying and that now sees its political salvation not in making good policy for the Middle Class, but in exciting the Left enough to save the day come November.

“I guess we’ll see if their strategy pays off.

“But that’s not what truly matters here.

“What really matters is that millions in our country are hurting. And that Senate Democrats don’t seem to want to act.

“Look: They should be joining with us to help our constituents.

“Because the American people didn’t send us here to play games. Or to serve the Far Left.

“Our constituents sent us here to have serious debates on issues that matter to them, like energy security, national security, and economic security. All three can be addressed if the Majority Leader would simply allow Republican amendments to be considered.

“Our constituents want Congress to make good policy. The fact that we don’t seem to do that anymore under the current majority, it’s a tragedy.

“The American people deserve better.

“They deserve a debate.

“They deserve to be heard.”