McConnell on ‘America’s Newsroom’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer on Fox News Channel’s ‘America’s Newsroom’ this morning. See below for highlights or click here to watch the full interview.
On Democrats’ Designed to Fail Agenda:
“You have to start with last year's election, Dana. It's a 50-50 Senate and the Democrats have a handful of seats as a majority in the House. The American people didn't vote for this radical left-wing agenda. So why would we decide to pass that in a 50-50 Senate? We’ve done six major bills so far this year on a bipartisan basis, working together in committees, and now the Majority Leader has shifted to check the box month by rolling out all of these radical left-wing proposals that have no support on my side. So obviously they aren't going to pass.”
On Protecting the Senate as an Institution:
“I think a significant number of Democrats have indicated we aren't going to change the rules of the Senate in order to advance a radical left wing agenda that the American people didn't vote for. So when you have a 50-50 Senate, I think you need to look for things you can agree on …
“The filibuster is not so much about a particular issue as it is about the Senate as an institution. It was constructed in the beginning of the country to slow things down, to make sure the right thing was done for the country, and of course it takes 60 votes, not just 51, to advance an agenda in the Senate. The reason for that is you have to have broad bipartisan support in order to get over the 60-vote threshold. That is the essence of the Senate. So I admire the Democratic senators who believe the institution of the Senate is important and they are willing to protect it.”
On Bipartisan Infrastructure Negotiations:
“We’ve passed six major bills on a bipartisan basis so far in the first five months of this year in the Senate, working together. We’re trying to get an outcome on infrastructure, something that is popular on both sides of the aisle. All we're insisting on is that the infrastructure bill be about infrastructure and not a whole lot of other things, and that it be credibly paid for. We’re continuing to engage in discussion, members of mine, with each other across the aisle and with the administration. And we haven't given up hope that we'll be able to reach a deal on something really important for the country that we really need to accomplish, and that is a major infrastructure bill.
“It will have to be done on a bipartisan basis. That particular member of Congress you're referring to would like for it to be sort of a Green New Deal infrastructure package. I don't think that will fly in the Senate.”
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