WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the President’s latest ‘pivot’ and the need to end Democrat bickering over a solution to rising student loan interest rates:

“There are many overused expressions in Washington. Game changer comes to mind. But I think the worst may be the so-called ‘pivot.’

“I say this not just because it’s used too much to really mean anything, but also because it’s a troubling frame of mind. I mean, the idea that the White House can simply ‘pivot’ to jobs for a day or two, then abandon it for a few weeks or months, then pivot back again for a couple days, really epitomizes an attitude that turns people off from politics.

“It’s the notion that job creation is somehow more about scoring points at convenient moments than just doing what’s necessary to get Americans back to work.

“This is the kind of thing that really angers folks in Kentucky and across the country, but it seems to be the only thing this administration and its allies here in Congress are ever interested in. Because, here’s the thing: not only should we be focused on jobs day in and day out around here – as Senate Republicans have been all along – but it’s also not like we don’t know the kinds of things needed to do to get our economy back on track. It’s not like we don’t know how to get the private sector moving again and creating jobs.

“We don’t need to ‘pivot.’ We need to do the things that have been staring us in the face for the past four and a half years. And if Washington Democrats were really serious about turning the economy around, they’d be working collaboratively with Republicans to do just that, instead of just sitting on the sidelines and waiting to take their cues from the endless political road-shows the President cooks up whenever he feels like changing the topic.

“I mean, there are some pretty obvious things we should be spending our time doing around here.

“Things like implementing a revenue-neutral reform of our tax code to make it fairer, flatter, and more conducive to the kind of economic growth that can generate the type of stable, middle-class jobs we so desperately need right now.

“Things like reimagining a regulatory state that was designed in the 20th Century so that American companies and workers can remain competitive in the 21st.

“Things like developing and refining more energy right here at home, instead of importing it from overseas.

“But Washington Democrats really haven’t worked with us to do almost any of that. Instead, they’ve mostly given us higher taxes, an endless stream of regulations, and an unwillingness to pursue common-sense energy projects that could put more Americans to work now. They’ve given us a stimulus that ballooned the debt. Maddeningly complex financial regulations that failed to solve Too Big to Fail, and made bailouts the official law of the land. And, they gave us a 2,700-page health law that almost no one read, with tower of at least 20,000 pages of accompanying regulations and red tape that almost no one can understand.

“It’s no wonder so many Americans remain out of work, with 54 months of unemployment at or above 7.5 percent. In Kentucky, the rate is even higher. Meanwhile, Washington Democrats have been ‘pivoting’ back and forth, back and forth. In fact, they ‘pivot’ so much these days, they often don’t seem to know what to do with themselves when there’s an actual policy issue to be solved. An issue where you’d assume many Republicans and Democrats would normally agree.

“Just take the student loan issue. Right now, the unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds is about 13.5 percent. For teens, it’s even worse – about 24 percent. The youth of our country are struggling. And yet, with that backdrop, Senate Democrats still continue to fight with each other over the student loan bill, 23 days past the deadline they themselves warned about.

“Congressional Republicans and President Obama have actually been more or less on the same page on this issue from the start. We’ve agreed on the need to pursue permanent reform for all students, not just a short-term political fix for some of them. And still, Senate Democrats persisted with show votes on a bill that always seemed more about politics than policy, wasting precious time. Then, with a July 1 deadline blowing past, they started bickering amongst themselves about the way forward. And continue to do so now.

“Well, they need to stop. Democrats need to finally allow the bipartisan student loan reform proposal to come to a vote this week, so we can pass it and ensure there’s one less Washington-created problem for young people to worry about in this economy. Because it’s tough enough out there for them already. The Obama Economy has not been kind to the youth of our nation.

“So I hope the White House and Senate Democrats will help us change that. Because this persistently high unemployment – it’s not acceptable. And neither is pretending that it can be changed by simply executing another ‘pivot,’ or delivering another campaign-style speech, or just Spending more taxpayer money. Because Washington Democrats have tried that all before. Over and over, in fact. And it’s just not working.”