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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the failures of Obamacare:

“I remember a recent time when President Obama tried to spin Americans on Obamacare. The best he could muster then was a condescending, cringe-inducing message that likely turned off more people than it converted.

“He even said that Americans who already had health insurance, quote, ‘may not know that they’ve got a better deal now [under Obamacare] than they did, but they do.’

“Like I said, it was condescending and cringe-inducing. It was just so out of touch with the priorities of the Middle Class.

“Well, it looks like the President’s going to try again today with a series of regional TV news interviews. He’ll be doing so with headlines like these as a backdrop.

“CBS: Affordable Care Act not so affordable

“AP: More than half of health law's insurance co-ops are closing

“Here’s a headline about the President’s home state: Some Obamacare marketplace prices see double-digit jump in Illinois

“And here’s one about mine: Health coop closes, 51,000 need new insurance

“This is on top of the massive premium increases so many Kentuckians have faced. But this isn’t just a Kentucky story or an Illinois story. In every corner of the country, we see story after story about sharply rising premiums.

“The largest insurers in Tennessee have rates going up 36 percent.

“A large insurer in Oklahoma is raising premiums by 35 percent.

“In Hawaii, families are looking at increases of 26 and 34 percent.

“It's easy to glaze over the numbers, but this is real money coming out of the pockets of real families. This is money that could help send a child to college or put Thanksgiving Dinner on the table. But it will go instead to insurance bills made unnecessarily expensive in part because of Obamacare’s costly rules and regulations.

“Perhaps the President will settle today for just trying to convince Americans that Obamacare’s website, at least, is working better than in years past. But that just means it’ll be a little easier for middle-class families to pay more for unaffordable health insurance and higher out-of-pocket costs.

“That’s hardly the makings of better headlines or better outcomes for the American people.”

‘It’s time for the appropriations process to finally be allowed to move forward. That means it’s time for the men and women who put everything on the line for us to finally receive the support they need to be safe. It’s time for our troops to finally get the certainty they need to plan for training and operations.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding defense appropriations:

“It’s hard to think of a time in recent memory when the number of threats facing our country were more diverse or more threatening than they are now.

“From ISIL to Russia, from China to the Taliban, and from Iran to Al Qaeda.

“These threats are real. These threats are worrying. And these threats make the political games Democrats continue to play with our men and women in uniform all the more hard to understand.

“Democrats have spent months upon months blocking funding for our troops.

“They’ve tried to hide behind a whirling kaleidoscope of excuses, moving from one to another as each is debunked.

“But with the setting of a topline budget number last week, the final excuse is gone.

“It’s time for the appropriations process to finally be allowed to move forward. That means it’s time for the men and women who put everything on the line for us to finally receive the support they need to be safe. It’s time for our troops to finally get the certainty they need to plan for training and operations.

“The defense appropriations bill is half of all discretionary spending.

“The defense appropriations bill contains no controversial policy riders.

“The defense appropriations bill was supported in committee overwhelmingly, 27 to 3. Nearly every Democrat voted for it. Democrats even sent out press releases praising it.

“It’s obvious why we should pass it now.

“President Obama’s own Secretary of Defense just wrote an op-ed titled ‘U.S. Military Needs Budget Certainty in Uncertain Times’ in which he implored Congress to authorize long-term funding for the military.

“He said:

In this uncertain security environment, the U.S. military needs to be agile and dynamic. What it has now is a straitjacket. At the Defense Department, we are forced to make hasty reductions when choices should be considered carefully and strategically.

“He concluded:

I appeal to Congress to act on a long-term budget deal that will let America’s troops and their families know we have the commitment and resources to see them succeed, and send a global message that the United States will continue to plan and build for the finest fighting force the world has ever known.

“So look.

“Our colleagues across the aisle are just completely out of excuses. It’s time to move this bill forward.

“Once we do, we have every intention of then moving on to other appropriations bills.

“Remember, our members worked very hard on those bills. Nearly all of the appropriations measures passed committee with support from both parties. We obviously want to process them all.

“If Democrats hadn’t wasted months blocking every last one as part of a political game, we could have passed all 12 appropriations bills long ago. But since they did, it’s forced Congress up against a December 11th deadline of Democrats’ own creation.

“We’re going to work within that deadline to get as much done as we can.

“With bipartisan cooperation, we can get a lot more done.

“With more political games, we can get a lot less done.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement today after the Senate approved Senator Ernst’s resolution of disapproval on the ‘Waters of the U.S.’ rule:

“The Senate stood up for middle-class homeowners and family farmers today by voting to overturn the Obama Administration’s so-called ‘Waters of the U.S.’ regulation—a rule that would place virtually all private property near a ditch, pothole or puddle under the thumb of federal bureaucrats. This cynical, indefensible and unprecedented power grab would force citizens to seek federal permission before doing just about anything with their own property. Thirty one states have already filed suit against this draconian regulation, and two federal courts have ruled that it is likely illegal. I commend the Senate for standing up against this unfair regulatory attack and look forward to House passage, which would send the resolution to the President’s desk.”

Recent Press Releases

Rising Costs, Broken Promises of Obamacare

November 5, 2015

With Last Week’s Fiscal Agreement, Senate Democrats Are Out of Excuses to Block Defense Funding Bill

November 4, 2015

McConnell on Passage of Resolution to Overturn Administration’s Indefensible Waterways Regulation

‘This cynical, indefensible and unprecedented power grab would force citizens to seek federal permission before doing just about anything with their own property.’

November 4, 2015