Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the McConnell amendment to S. 493, the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization bill:

“As lawmakers returned to Washington this week, we did so against the backdrop of many world crises. From recovery efforts in Japan, to battles everywhere from Afghanistan to Libya, to an unfolding economic crisis in Europe, the scope and intensity of world events in recent months has been nothing short of breathtaking.

“And yet, in the midst of all this, it’s important that we not lose sight of the struggles and concerns of so many around us here at home. At a time when roughly one in four American homeowners owes more money on their mortgage than their home is worth.

“At a time when nearly one in 10 working Americans is looking for a job.

“At a time when the federal debt has reached heights that none of us could have even imagined just a few years ago.

“Now is not the time to lose focus on the paramount issue on the minds of most Americans today — and that’s the very real crisis that we face when it comes to jobs.

“Americans look around them and they see neighbors and friends struggling to find work. And yet all they seem to get from the White House are policies that handcuff small businesses with burdensome new regulations and red tape; and that create even more uncertainty about the future, including the administration’s inexplicable and inexcusable inaction on trade deals that would level the playing field with our competitors overseas.

“And they’re tired of it. Americans are tired of the White House paying lip service to their struggles while quietly promoting effort after effort, either through legislation or through some back-door regulation, that make it harder, not easier, for businesses to create new jobs.

“But the administration really outdid itself last week, when the President told the Brazilian president that the United States hopes to be a major customer in the market for oil that Brazilian businesses plan to extract from new oil finds off the Brazilian coast.

“You can’t make this stuff up.

“Here we’ve got the administration looking for just about any excuse it can find to lock up our own energy sources here at home, even as it’s applauding another country’s efforts to grow its own economy and create jobs by tapping into its own energy sources.

“For two years, the administration has cancelled dozens of oil and gas leases all across America. It’s raised permit fees. It’s shut down deep water drilling in the Gulf. It won’t even allow a conversation about exploring for oil in a remote, 2,000-acre piece of land in northern Alaska that experts think represents one of our best opportunities for a major oil find. And it continues to press for new regulations through the Environmental Protection Agency that would raise energy costs for every business in America — and lead to untold lost jobs for more American workers.

“In other words, in the midst of average gas prices approaching four dollars a gallon and a chronic jobs crisis, the White House plans to make the climate for job growth worse. And that’s why Republicans, led here in the Senate by Senator Inhofe, have proposed legislation to prevent this new energy tax from ever taking effect without congressional approval.

“The Wall Street Journal has called the amendment we’re proposing, `One of the best proposals for growth and job creation to make it onto the Senate docket in years.’

“Our amendment would assure small businesses across the country that they won’t be hit with yet another costly new job-stifling burden by Democrats in Washington. It will give voters the assurance that a regulation of this kind, which would have a dramatic impact on so many, could not be approved without their elected representatives standing up and voting for it. And, at a time of rising energy prices, it would prevent Democrats in Washington from adding even more pressure to energy prices than they already have out of fealty to special interests that would rather we buy our energy from overseas than find and use the bountiful resources that we already have here at home.

“So I want to thank Senator Inhofe once again for leading us on this issue. His bill, upon which my amendment is based, has 43 cosponsors. He deserves the credit. He has been a fierce and tireless advocate not only for American energy, but also against new EPA regulations that would sidestep the legislative process.

“I thank him for his work, along with the great work that Senators Murkowksi and Barraso have done in educating the American people about these issues. At a time when Americans are looking for answers on the economy, this amendment is as good as it gets from Washington. By voting for it, we’d be saying no to more regulations and red tape. And we’d be saying yes to American job creators, and to the jobs they want to create.

“I urge my colleagues in both parties to support it.”