Following are his remarks as prepared for delivery that Senator McConnell had hoped to share with the participants at the Kentucky Law Journal/ABA symposium held at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Thank you for that kind introduction.

And thank you for inviting me to this Kentucky Law Journal/ABA symposium. It’s a pleasure to be addressing so many distinguished men and women who uphold our justice system.

It’s also a pleasure to be back in Kentucky, and out of Washington. On the way here today I was thinking about the story of a lawyer who died and arrived at the pearly gates. To his dismay, there were thousands of people ahead of him in line to see St. Peter.

But to his surprise, St. Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the lawyer was standing. St. Peter greeted the lawyer warmly, took him by the hand and guided him up to the front of the line and into a comfortable chair by his desk.

The lawyer said, “I don’t mind all this attention, but what makes me so special?”

St. Peter replied, “Well, I’ve added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by my calculation you must be about 192 years old!”

While that story pokes fun at lawyers, let me tell you that some members of Congress are just as creative when it comes to numbers.

As many of you know, I’m a recovering lawyer. And it’s a pleasure to join you all here at the University of Kentucky College of Law, where I studied some years ago. I learned a lot in my time here, and not all of it was in the classroom.

As the president of the student bar association once upon a time, I pressed my fellow students to vote for something I thought the law college needed: an honor code. I made my case to the other students, arranged for a vote and ran into what was not my first setback, or my last: I lost.

A year later I pushed a vote again, and again the vote failed. It was here at the UK College of Law I learned an important lesson about leadership, and how a leader has to be sure to listen to his constituents.

Of course, when it comes to leadership, the people in this room can look to Bill Robinson, who ascended to the ABA presidency this past August.

Bill’s rise to the top job is the culmination of more than 25 years of hard work in ABA leadership roles, including three years as treasurer, eight years on the board of governors and nine years as Kentucky State delegate to the ABA nominating committee.

Bill has also served as president of the Kentucky Bar Association. And over his 40-year career, he’s been an active volunteer for his profession and his community.

The success of today’s symposium is further proof that the ABA couldn’t have a finer leader. Bill, I know I speak for many when I say how proud we are to have a Kentuckian and a UK Law graduate serving as the ABA president. Congratulations.

Now, as a past president of the Kentucky Bar Association, Bill knows, as I’m sure you all do, the importance of state courts in the American legal system. While much of the media focus is on what happens at the federal level, approximately 95 percent of all legal cases initiated in the United States are actually filed in state courts.

And state courts account for the vast majority of all felony sentences in America, about 94 percent of the combined state and federal total.

Of course the federal government has a role to play in supporting state courts. You’re assembled here today to talk about the underfunding of our state court system, for example.

One of the ways the federal government can help, and one of the ways I’m in a position to help as a voice for Kentucky in the United States Senate and the Senate Republican Leader, is through the State Justice Institute.

As you know, the State Justice Institute is a quasi-governmental organization that provides grants to state courts to help them train judges and administrators, acquire and develop new technology, and reorganize their systems to make them more efficient. Under federal law, the State Justice Institute board must be bipartisan and its members must be confirmed by the Senate.

As the Republican Leader I had the opportunity to recommend to the president two nominees to the SJI board, and my priority was to find experienced litigators who were already actively involved in efforts to improve the quality of justice in our court system, and the coordination between state and federal efforts. Well, I found two great candidates.

One of them is here today—John Nalbandian, and he also happens to be another proud Kentuckian.

And the other is Marsha Rabiteau. Both Marsha and John have been actively involved in promoting legal reforms to improve the administration of justice, and I think they are two great picks for the SJI board.

Here in Kentucky, the state government has appropriated more than $290 million for our court system in fiscal year 2011, a slight increase from 2010.

But that amount is still $35 million less than the amount needed to fund level services for the nearly 1.2 million cases that flow through Kentucky courtrooms each year.

I think there are ways that the federal government and state court systems, working together, can be careful stewards of the people’s money and still see justice faithfully carried out.

Take, for example, the federal government’s support for state drug court programs. Drug courts are one way we can still tender justice and reduce crime in an era of shrinking prosecutorial and law-enforcement resources.

Kentucky loses 82 people a day to drug-related deaths, more than the number that die from vehicle accidents. The United States drug czar has named Kentucky as “ground zero” for prescription drug abuse. Our court dockets are overloaded with drug cases and drug-related offenders, leaving fewer resources for more serious, violent offenders.

Drug courts can alleviate the strain on our legal system, save money, and more effectively rehabilitate non-violent offenders. I’ve been a strong supporter of federal grant programs for drug courts since they began in 1994. These important courts now operate in virtually all of Kentucky’s judicial circuits to great success.

Kentucky drug court graduates have a 20 percent recidivism rate two years after completing the program, versus 57 percent for those convicted of similar offenses in traditional circuit courts, saving Kentucky more than $61 million in prison costs since the program’s inception in the 1990s. According to the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, for every dollar spent on drug courts, Kentucky saves an average of four dollars and fourteen cents.

More successful partnerships like this, not just in Kentucky but across the country, are going to be necessary in this era of record deficits, strained budgets and high unemployment.

America is 14 trillion dollars in debt, and the numbers just keep getting worse. Median income is going down instead of up. Poverty levels are higher than they’ve been in nearly two decades.

Gas prices are up. Health insurance premiums are up. Home values in most places continue to fall. And America recently suffered its first-ever credit downgrade.

Fourteen million Americans are out of work. The unemployment rate nationally is over nine percent, and up to nine and a half percent here in the Bluegrass State.

No one thing will solve the problem of Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility. As Senate Republican Leader, I’m going to continue working toward a responsible plan to get control of the debt and spending, and get the government out of the way of the American people so our economy can grow and people can go back to work. It’s my number-one priority.

And I’m inspired by the dialogue you’ve begun here today. We’re all looking for ways to once again get our fiscal house in order. That’s essential if we want to pass on as secure a country to our children and grandchildren as was passed on to us.

I look forward to working with and hearing from you all as we do just that. Thank you.