Bipartisan Funding and Tax Relief Legislation Will Strengthen the Economy and National Security

‘The legislation we’ll consider today would take steps to strengthen our economy and strengthen our national security.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the bipartisan omnibus and tax relief legislation:

“We know our constituents are deeply concerned about America’s struggling economy. So let’s take steps — as the legislation we’ll consider proposes — to support more jobs, more opportunity, and more economic growth.

“Let’s enact permanent tax relief for American families and small businesses.

“Let’s set the table for pro-growth tax reform.

“Let’s permanently eliminate an energy policy from the 1970s that not only costs American jobs, but also strengthens American adversaries like Iran and Russia.

“Because here’s something else.

“We know our constituents are deeply concerned about America’s national security. So let’s take steps — as the legislation we’ll consider proposes — to strengthen our national security in a dangerous world.

“Let’s help ensure our military has more of the funding it needs to train, equip, and confront the threats that face us from every corner of the globe.

“Let’s bolster the FBI’s ability to confront terror within our borders.

“Let’s bring badly needed reform to the Visa Waiver Program.

“Let’s prevent the transfer of dangerous terrorists from Guantanamo’s secure detention center into American communities.

“Let’s provide the people we represent with some long-overdue protection from cyberattacks.

“Let’s honor our veterans and enact critical reforms to help address the crises we’ve seen at the V.A.

“The legislation we’ll consider today would take steps to strengthen our economy and strengthen our national security.

“It would bolster the First Amendment.

“It would attack key pillars of Obamacare and prevent a taxpayer bailout of this partisan law.

That last provision is especially important. Protecting the Middle Class from financing a bailout of Obamacare means we’re likely to speed up America’s day of liberation from Obamacare too.

“So here’s my view.

“This legislation helps our economy, helps our national security, and strikes more blows to a partisan health law that hurts the Middle Class.

“I think its legislation worth supporting.

***

“The American people voted for a new majority last November.

“We were humbled to have their support to take the Senate in a new direction.

“The Senate has made great strides in the year since. I think we’ve shown how the Senate can not only get back to work, but also return to a place of higher purpose.

“We got committees working again. We opened up the legislative process. We gave Senators from both parties more of a say.

“As a result, we’ve gotten a lot done for the American people.

“There are numbers that help tell the story, like the fact that this Senate allowed about 200 roll-call amendment votes compared to just 15 last year.

“But it’s the substance of what we passed that really shows what a new and more open Senate can achieve for the American people.

“Replacing No Child Left Behind with the most significant K-12 education reform in more than a dozen years.

“Addressing crumbling roads and bridges with the first long-term transportation bill in a decade.

“A balanced budget, for the first time since 2001.

“Help for our veterans.

“Hope for the victims of modern slavery.

“Modernizing changes for our military and its acquisition systems.

“Notable, bipartisan reforms for programs like Medicare – reforms that set a precedent for further positive action in the future.

“We brought a permanent end to more of Washington’s artificial cliffs and manufactured dramas, by working toward real reform instead of just temporary patches.

“We’ll do that again today.

“We’ll enact permanent tax relief for families and small businesses.

“We’ll bring an end to a job-destroying 40-year ban on energy exports.

“We’ll finally pass landmark cybersecurity legislation after years of Senate inaction.

“And just last night, we passed the first significant environmental reform bill in decades – one that will create more certainty for businesses and ensure uniform safety standards for products our families use.

“This is all good news for the American people.

“Nearly all of the policies I mentioned were — or will be — signed into law by the President.

“Others, while important, do not have his support.

“That includes legislation to rescue the Middle Class from the pain of Obamacare, to support Keystone’s energy jobs, and to protect Kentucky’s small businesses and coal families from Washington’s regulatory assault.

“It’s now clear that it will take a new President to achieve those things for the American people.

“But we’re proving that you can still get a lot done with a President from a different party.

“We’re proving you can actually enact significant, long-term reforms — achieve conservative policy goals — and get them signed into law.

“I’m proud of what the new Senate has accomplished. I’d like to thank the many friends across the aisle who joined us in passing so many bipartisan reforms for the American people too.

“We’re not only putting the Senate back to work, we’ve put it back on the side of the American people.”

Related Issues: Taxes, Education, Veterans, Appropriations, Guantanamo Detention Facility, Jobs, Infrastructure, Restoring the Senate, Middle Class, Obamacare, First Amendment, Energy, National Security

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