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McConnell on CNN "Late Edition"

May 13, 2007



House Democrats have gone from micromanaging the war to now trying to microfund the war, McConnell says



WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” this morning. The following are excerpts from the program:



On Iran:



“Well, the Vice President indicated as long as the discussions are about the Iraq security issue, the administration was comfortable with it. I don't see anything wrong with that. I think the Iranians are part of the problem in Iraq. To the extent that they want to discuss discontinuing that kind of mischievous behavior, I think that would be helpful.”



“The nuclear issue, the Iran nuclear issue, is really not negotiable. The world is united in opposition to the Iranians developing nuclear weapon capability. The British, the French, the Germans, ourselves. There's widespread opposition to that, and that kind of unity I think will continue. And hopefully, we will be able to get the kind of multilateral sanctions against the Iranians that would actually deter them from going in that direction.”



On benchmarks for progress in Iraq:



“The President himself mentioned benchmarks back in January. We had a proposal that ended up not being voted on by Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman and Senator Lindsey Graham, who you're going to have on later in the program, related to benchmarks for the Iraqi government earlier this year.”



“I think benchmarks will be a part of the final package that we get to the President for signature on the troop funding bill.”



On the Iraq funding bill:



“Well, you know, the House Democrats have gone from micromanaging the war to now trying to microfund the war. Splitting up the funding. The good news is that there's a bipartisan majority in opposition to that in the Senate, including the majority leader of the Senate and the chairman, the Democratic chairman of the Armed Service Committee, Senator Levin, both of whom think that splitting up the funding is a bad idea.



“The majority leader and I are working to get a quick passage into conference with the House, and a bill signed by the President of the United States before Memorial Day. It's clear that benchmarks should be and will be a part of that process. Exactly how you craft beyond that is still to be worked out… We are working toward getting a bill that the President can sign before Memorial Day.”



On the Democrat majority in Congress and 2008:



“There's another interesting poll out this week that has a rating of the Congress down as low as the President. People are beginning to figure out that the new Democratic majority has not been able to pass anything. Not a single one of their "Six in '06" agenda items has made it to the President's desk. The American people are beginning to figure out that the Democrats are so preoccupied with this one issue that they are not accomplishing anything else.



“And so, I want to assure you, Wolf, that the election next year will not just be about Iraq, it will also be about the new Congress. What did they do? Did they produce anything for the American people? The day I was elected Republican leader, I said divided government sometimes presents a great opportunity do important things. And I mentioned immigration. Maybe we'll get there. And Social Security is two extremely important things that we ought to accomplish for the American people. So far, the new majority hasn't gotten anything done.”



On leaving Iraq prematurely:



“And we have to continue to ask ourselves, if we go in a different direction, what is it? What is the option? Do we want to allow Iraq to be a failed state? Do we want to embolden al Qaeda and really almost invite them to come back here again?”



On the Iraqi government:



“Well, the Iraqi government is a huge disappointment. Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government. I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave. I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request.”

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McConnell: ‘The only chance to get an immigration bill is on a bipartisan basis’

May 11, 2007



Senate gives bipartisan working group more time to forge an agreement



Washington, D.C. – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Friday on the Senate floor regarding the decision to give the immigration bipartisan working group more time to complete their work:



“Let me say with regard to immigration, the only chance to get a bill is on a bipartisan basis. I agree with the decision of the Majority Leader to accept the recommendation of those who have been involved in that discussion. That gives us the maximum opportunity to piece back together the bipartisan agreement that we thought we almost had a week or so ago on this most important legislation.”



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McConnell Calls for Judicial Confirmation Process to Get ‘Back on Pace’

May 10, 2007

‘And so I would say to our good friends on the other side, it's in your best interest for us to have a less contentious, more successful treatment of circuit judges’



Washington, D.C. – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday on the Senate floor regarding the need for the confirmation of circuit court judges in this Congress to get back on pace:



“Mr. President, seeing the occupant of the chair and realizing he's new to the Senate and learning what the processes are, I think the Majority Leader had it right.



“One thing that is important for everyone to remember is in the Senate if you're here for a while, sooner or later the shoe is on the other foot. The position you may be in today is the position your adversary may be in very soon in the near future. So the precedents we set in the Senate are extremely important.



“The Majority Leader and I, as he just indicated this morning, talked about this issue at the beginning of the session and we agreed that the process of confirming circuit court judges had become entirely too contentious, and it was largely a waste of time to try to cast blame as to who was most at fault in that situation developing. And to the maximum extent possible, we agreed we wanted to have a clean, fresh start that would honor the traditions of the Senate.



“And a good way to look at it is looking at the last three presidents, each of them in the last two years of their tenure in office had a Senate controlled by the opposition party. So the question is: how did the opposition party in the Senate treat the president on circuit court nominees? Looking at the statistics, President Bush 41, President Clinton, and President Bush 43, we'll see where he comes out; President Bush, President Clinton, and President Reagan, it was an average of 17 circuit court judges confirmed in similar situations.



“The Majority Leader in one of our discussions on the floor back in February said, and I quote: ‘This is not our last circuit court judge, but the first of a significant number who can at least meet the standards of Congresses similarly situated as ours.’



“That was an accurate, public reflection by the Majority Leader back in February of the numerous conversations he and I have had both publicly and privately about the standard that we ought to achieve here in this Congress. I think that's a standard that can still be met.



“Three circuit judges have been confirmed this year. It's a little slower process than, frankly, I had thought, particularly since we're in the early part of the Congress where presumably it would be more easily done than later.



“The Majority Leader was entirely correct, and I commend him for referring to the gesture the President made at the beginning of this congress by not resubmitting four or five highly contentious nominees that were clear the new Democratic majority as well as the Democratic minority in the past did not want to see confirmed.



“The President took those off the table, sent up new nominees. Most of them are completely without controversy. One of them will have a hearing beginning at 10:00 o'clock this morning, and how that turns out and how that individual is treated will tell us a lot about where we're going to be able to go from here to achieve the standard that the Majority Leader just referred to that he and I would like to meet for this Congress.



“So I want to thank my friend from Nevada for his observations. I agree with him. I think they accurately reflect our mutual desire here to have this Congress do no worse than the last three congresses in the last two years of presidents of the opposite party in the Senate. It's a standard that can be met. It's a standard that should be met.



“And one day, against the best efforts of people like myself, there will be a Democratic president. And one of the things that we know around here is that lessons, precedents established and lessons learned are hard to undo. And so I would say to our good friends on the other side heed the advice of the Majority Leader. It's in your best interest for us to have a less contentious, more successful treatment of circuit judges during this congress. Mr. President, I yield the floor.”



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