WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate Floor calling on Washington Democrats to work with Republicans to help the Middle Class:

“If Senate Democrats were half as concerned about American jobs as they were about saving their own jobs this November, there’d be almost no limit to what we could accomplish.

“Yet rather than work with us to get anything serious accomplished for our constituents, we see the Majority Leader once again bowing to the whims of his campaign consultants.

“And the Senate becoming little more than a campaign studio this week.

“Well, the Majority Leader can spend all his time fighting for the consultant class if he wants, but that won’t stop Republicans from offering common-sense, job-saving ideas that both sides should be able to support.

“The Senior Senator from Utah, for example, will offer an amendment that would repeal a Democrat tax that’s helped push manufacturing overseas and could kill as many as 165,000 American jobs. It’s a measure that would likely pass if the Majority Leader would only allow a vote.

“I know that some of our friends on the other side plan to offer amendments too.

“The question is, will those Senators join with us to demand that their amendments be considered too?

“Or will they allow the Majority Leader to just shut down the legislative process again, silencing their constituents?

“I hope they’ll make the right decision here.

“And since the Majority Leader seems so determined to convince everyone that he cares about protecting American jobs this week, I’m going to offer him an opportunity to prove that he’s serious too.

“He can do it by allowing a vote — or even voting himself — for an amendment of mine called the Saving Coal Jobs Act. He’s already blocked this bill before, but I’ll give him a chance to reconsider.

“Everyone knows the Administration’s War on Coal Jobs is little more than an elitist crusade that threatens to undermine Kentucky’s traditionally low utility rates, splinter our manufacturing base, and ship well-paying jobs overseas.

“My amendment seeks to push back against this ‘War’ on ordinary Americans’ livelihoods. And it seeks to help protect the Administration’s targets too: Kentucky coal families who want little more than to put food on the table and give their children a better life.

“That’s not too much to ask.

“So the Majority Leader has a choice: Is he in favor of shipping Kentucky jobs overseas, or will he help me protect Middle Class families by supporting this amendment?

“Regardless of what he decides, though, I’m going to keep fighting against this Administration’s unfair regulations.

“Yesterday, the EPA Administrator came to Capitol Hill to defend the Administration’s extreme proposed energy regulations.

“She tried to assure legislators that the Administration wanted input from the public as it went about developing and implementing its job-killing agenda. But it’s hard to take her seriously. Because earlier this week, I met with her in person and urged her to hold at least one listening session in Coal Country – the region most likely to be affected by the Administration’s regulations. She was unmoved.

“Apparently, the Obama Administration isn’t all that interested in what Kentucky thinks.

“Well, if Washington officials won’t come to Kentucky, then Kentuckians will come to Washington.

“Next week the Administration plans to hold one of its listening sessions here in Washington.

“I plan to testify. And so do several of my constituents. Even though they’ll have to travel hundreds of miles to get here, these Kentuckians will make Washington understand that they are more than just some statistic.

“They’re our neighbors. They’re Moms and Dads. And they refuse to be collateral damage in some elitist ‘War’ dreamed up in a bureaucratic board room in Washington.”