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Senator McConnell Welcomes the America 4 Boston Prayer Canvas to the Nation’s Capital

March 13, 2014

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell hosted Mrs. Kari Wagner, a native of Meade County, Kentucky, and thanked her for her work to collect signatures and messages from Members of Congress for the America 4 Boston Prayer Canvas. Senator McConnell signed the canvas in the U.S. Capitol and invited his colleagues to participate. 

 
Download the photos HERE

The America 4 Boston Prayer Canvas is a grass-roots effort started by Kari and six more mothers in response to the attacks at the Boston Marathon in April 2013.  Kari describes their creation of the prayer canvas as a “giant symbol of America’s compassion, resilience, and unity,” as more than 50,000 people have signed the canvas and written messages to honor the victims, survivors and the city of Boston. Within the past year, the prayer canvas has grown to nearly 19,000 square feet and will be spread out in the Boston Common on the day of the bombing anniversary, April 15th.  The completed prayer canvas will be presented to the city of Boston at the Boston Red Sox game on April 20th.

Senator McConnell welcomed Kari to the U.S. Capitol saying, “I commend the nationwide efforts of Kari and her team and I was privileged to be able to host the prayer canvas in the Senate. The America 4 Boston Prayer Canvas is a noble way to remember and honor the people of Boston, especially the many victims, survivors, and their families.”

While set up in the U.S. Capitol corridors gathering signatures, Kari Wagner said, “the reason we started this was to show the community spirit of America; the prayer canvas serves as giant symbol of America’s compassion, resilience, and unity. Throughout the past year, we have been overwhelmed by the perception and engagement in our efforts.”

Last summer, the prayer canvas traveled to the Commonwealth and Kentuckians in Elizabethtown and Brandenburg participated and wrote messages to show their support.

McConnell Urges Obama Administration to Reject Anti-First Amendment Rule

‘And yet, it’s easy to see why Americans would be so united in opposition to this regulation. The First Amendment exists to protect political speech. And the government should be doing everything it can to protect that right, not hurt it.’

March 13, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor calling on the Obama Administration to reject a proposed IRS rule that would suppress American free speech:

“I’d like to take a moment to address the anti-free speech regulation the Obama Administration has made a priority for this term. It’s a regulation that comes in the wake of an unprecedented IRS attack on Americans’ civil liberties, and it represents a direct assault on the First Amendment.

“First, let’s be clear: this is not some partisan issue. Right across the political spectrum, the American people agree that this regulation is a terrible idea. That’s probably why it’s generated more public backlash than any similar regulation in our lifetimes.

“Americans on the Left hate it.

“Americans on the Right hate it.

“Unions, business groups, environmentalists, conservatives, and the ACLU, all of them have expressed concern.

“It’s pretty rare to see a coalition that broad agree on anything in Washington.

“And yet, it’s easy to see why Americans would be so united in opposition to this regulation. The First Amendment exists to protect political speech. And the government should be doing everything it can to protect that right, not hurt it.

“That’s why you saw a record number of Americans register their complaints with the IRS. In fact, there were more than 140,000 comments in all, which I hear is just about the highest number ever received in the agency’s history.

“And let’s not forget. The IRS has a long way to go to regain the public’s trust these days. Too many Americans look at the agency and see an instrument of political harassment, rather than a bureau of tax processers.

“So if the agency wants to regain trust and return to its true mission, then it’s simply got to get out of the speech regulation business altogether.

“And the Obama Administration can do that.

“Look: the Administration ran this idea up the flagpole. It decided in the midst of a historic crisis of public confidence at the IRS to upend more than a half century of practice and rewrite the rules on how Americans could exercise their right to be heard. They asked for comments. And the American people let them know what they thought.

“So this regulation needs to go. And it needs to go now.

“It is in the Administration’s power to make that happen.

“All it has to do is listen to the American people who are speaking out in record numbers – and put an end, for good, to the idea that the law should be used to harm political enemies.

“Let’s protect the First Amendment and restore integrity to the IRS.”

Senator McConnell Shares Feedback from Kentucky Heroin Listening Session with Nation’s Top Law Enforcement and Public Health Leaders

March 12, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell met with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Deputy Administrator Thomas Harrigan, and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Chief of Staff Regina LaBelle in his office in the U.S. Capitol to discuss the Heroin Listening Session that he held in Northern Kentucky on March 7, 2014.


R-L: Regina LaBelle (ONDCP), Senator McConnell (R-KY), Dr. Tom Frieden (CDC) and Thomas Harrigan (DEA)

Senator McConnell held the session in Florence, Kentucky to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing prevention, prosecution and treatment/recovery efforts. The panelists included informed Kentuckians from the medical, public health, and law-enforcement fields, the business community, and a personal account from an individual in recovery. They shared their first-hand experiences in dealing with heroin abuse and the lives that it affects. In today’s meeting, Senator McConnell talked with the CDC Director, White House, and DEA officials regarding the stories and constructive ideas he heard during the Kentucky forum.

“I appreciate CDC Director Frieden, DEA Deputy Administrator Harrigan, and the White House Drug Czar’s Office sitting down with me to discuss the rise of heroin use that is destroying too many communities, families, and lives in the Bluegrass State,” Senator McConnell said. “In an era when the federal government faces unprecedented levels of debt, we must acknowledge that the federal government has finite resources. However, there are positive steps we can and must take, and I look forward to working with officials in Washington to formulate the right policy that will lead to saving lives and protecting families in the Commonwealth.”

“Senator McConnell’s account of the impact of heroin and prescription drug overdoses in Kentucky is a stark reminder that behind the dramatic numbers are real people who we can help,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D, M.P.H.  “CDC is committed to working in Kentucky and across the US on interventions that we know can help prevent prescription opioid misuse, and which if implemented effectively can also help curb heroin use.”

"Kentucky has been hit particularly hard by opioids-both heroin and prescription painkillers. We are not powerless against this challenge and we are pursuing real, evidence-based drug policy reforms that will make Kentucky healthier and safer, including support for expanding prevention, treatment, and smart on crime innovations,” ONDCP Acting Director Michael Botticelli said. “Drug control is a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue and we look forward to advancing a comprehensive approach to the opioid epidemic with our Federal colleagues and Senator McConnell."

BACKGROUND:  Senator McConnell was able to raise awareness and influence the leveling off of prescription drug overdoses by working closely with local and state medical authorities, treatment centers, and law-enforcement offices. In 2011, he brought White House National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske to Kentucky to witness firsthand the scope of the problem. And he fought for the expansion of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) to hard-hit Jefferson and Hardin Counties in Kentucky. He worked to secure federal grants for many community prevention and treatment efforts, and successfully convinced the FDA to take an important step toward limiting the abuse of prescription pain pills.

Most recently, Senator McConnell called the FDA to task for taking a step backward in their efforts to reduce pain pill abuse, and he is awaiting a response from the FDA to his questions about what safeguards they have in place to ensure the progress made in fighting prescription drug abuse is not lost.

SCHEDULING NOTE: Senator McConnell also will testify before the Senate Drug Caucus on March 26, 2014 in Washington, DC, regarding the Heroin Listening Session held in Kentucky.

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