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McConnell Calls for Fair and Open Amendment Process for Farm Bill

November 14, 2007



‘I am a little perplexed as to whether or not the majority actually wants this bill to pass’



Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday regarding the Majority’s decision to block an open amendment process for the Farm Bill:



“The remarks I’m about to make could have been made by my colleague on the other side of the aisle when his party was in the minority. We all know that we will pass a farm bill. The amendments list on our side is actually about 120 and the Democratic list is 140. Approximately 265 amendments just on the list.



“Before my good friend on the other side protests to me too much about this number, let me remind Senators that 246 amendments were filed to the 2002 farm bill. 339 amendments were filed to the 1996 farm bill—averaging about 300 amendments per bill.



“In fact, when Republicans were attempting to move the 1996 farm bill through the Senate, Senator Harkin himself filed 35 amendments. So if all Senators emulated the Senator from Iowa, 3,500 amendments would be the number of amendments.



“It is not at all unusual at the process of beginning a farm bill; this is a complex bill that only gets reauthorized every five years. This time it's 1,600 pages long and includes the first farm bill tax title since 1933, adding an extra degree of difficulty. However, Republicans are ready and willing to begin working in earnest to address these amendments.



“What always happens is most of the amendments go away and we gradually work down the list.



“But that is a massive bill, Mr. President. The notion -- if I can lift it here -- the notion that we're going to basically call up a bill of this magnitude, file cloture, and basically have no amendments strikes me as, shall I say, odd at least. What we always do is try to work out an orderly way to go forward, and the issue of getting a fixed amendment list, which we were prepared to enter into last night is the way it usually begins.



“I am a little perplexed as to whether or not the majority actually wants this bill to pass and is trying to simply blame the minority for trying to bring it down.



“Now, we all know, I’m sure anybody who's followed the Senate at all knows we're going to pass a farm bill. No question about that. The farm bill is not going to be killed. The issue is whether we're going to have any kind of reasonable process for going forward. And I think getting an amendment list is the first step.



“I was hoping that we could do that, but apparently that is not the case and I regret that we are where we are. But let me reassure everyone, I don't think there's anybody in the country who thinks we aren't going to pass a farm bill and nobody is going to kill the farm bill.



“But we’re going to insist on a reasonable procedure for going forward, and with that I yield the floor.”



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End the Middle Class Tax Hike

November 13, 2007



‘The consequences of mismanaging this stealth tax are very real’



Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the consequences of Democrats’ mismanagement for American taxpayers:



“Right outside of this chamber stands a statue of Benjamin Franklin.



“According to the Office of the Senate Curator, sculptor Hiram Powers received a contract from President James Buchanan himself to sculpt Franklin in 1859. The statue arrived at the Capitol in 1862, and has been in that spot ever since.



“Franklin wrote many famous aphorisms that live on to this day, and I want to talk about one of my favorites.



“Two hundred and eighteen years ago today, Franklin wrote to a friend words that will long outlive most things we say here: ‘Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’



“Proving the aphorism, Franklin died less than a year later.



“Mr. President, while we know the certainty of death and taxes, we can do something to ease the burden for the 23 million Americans who will be in for a rather unpleasant surprise on April 15 if Congress doesn’t act now to stop the middle-class tax hike, which goes by the rather innocuous name of ‘AMT’—a law that was originally intended in 1969 to impose taxes on a handful of high-income individuals who used loopholes in the code to avoided paying any regular income tax.



“Congress has known about the need to fix this problem all year, but the majority hasn’t brought a bill to the floor. And now they say it will be December before they do.



“The consequences of mismanaging this stealth tax are very real.



“This tax will grab $65 billion out of the pockets of middle-class taxpayers—an average of $2,000 per family. Millions will be hit for the first time.



“The IRS sent a letter warning Democrats that unless they act before December, the tax returns of 50 million people—and $75 billion in tax refunds—will be delayed.



“Just last week Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill that purports to delay the burden of the AMT for one year—by socking a massive, $80-billion tax increase to the American people. That’s the last thing they need right now, and it would be a disastrous jolt to the economy.



“Maybe a massive tax hike wrapped in an AMT fix sounds like a good idea to some people. But I’ve got a message for anybody who thinks that: such a proposal is dead on arrival in the Senate.



“The AMT, a middle-class tax hike, was never meant to be collected from the millions of Americans that it will hit this year if we don’t act. And I say this Congress ought to cut taxes by cutting taxes, not raising taxes.”



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McConnell, Bunning and Chandler Urge Immediate Action to Ensure the Safety of People Living Near Blue Grass Army Depot

November 13, 2007





Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Jim Bunning and Congressman Ben Chandler sent a letter Tuesday to the Acting Director of the Chemical Materials Agency urging him to take “immediate and decisive action” to ensure that employees at the Blue Grass Army Depot are “properly trained to prevent release of chemical warfare agents” to ensure the safety of the people living near the facility.



The lawmakers are responding to a report recently released by the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection on the status of the storage of chemical weapons at the BGAD.



“We need to ensure that the people involved in the storage of the chemical weapons stockpile at the Depot are properly trained so that the people living in Central Kentucky are safe and secure,” Senator McConnell said. “I appreciate the support of my friends Jim Bunning and Ben Chandler on this issue and I will continue to work with them until the community is rid of these lethal agents.”



“I am pleased to join Senator McConnell and Congressman Chandler in the effort to ensure that this important matter is addressed,” Senator Bunning said. “We have an obligation to do everything we can to make sure that workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot have the tools and training necessary to deal with these dangerous weapons and keep the residents of Central Kentucky safe from potential contamination.”



“My first priority has always been to ensure the safety of Central Kentuckians and employees of the Depot. I know I share this priority with Senator McConnell and Senator Bunning, and I appreciate their ongoing leadership in this area,” Congressman Chandler said.



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