Election Law and Infrastructure Deserve Bipartisanship, Not Democrats’ 'Trojan Horse Tactics'
‘All these issues are ripe for regular-order, bipartisan work if the President and our Democratic colleagues are interested in going about them the right way. But if the Administration decides to reprise their tactics from February and March, if Democrats just declare ‘our way or the highway,’ we’ll know they have chosen to create political controversies rather than make progress for American families.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding upcoming legislative priorities:
“The Senate returns today from a state work period. We got to meet with constituents in our home states and hear firsthand about their most pressing concerns.
“Unfortunately, back here in Washington, Democrats continued to roll out new reasons for the American people to worry.
“The week before last, the Biden Administration unveiled their latest misleadingly-titled legislation. This time, under the supposed veil of ‘infrastructure’, the White House has lumped together a motley assortment of the Left’s priciest priorities.
“This plan would impose the biggest tax hikes in a generation when workers need an economic recovery. It would gut right-to-work protections for blue-collar workers.
“It would throw hundreds of billions at the far-left’s ‘green’ fads. They even want to include a special state and local tax provision designed to overwhelmingly benefit wealthy residents of blue states.
“Less than 6% of this proposal goes to roads and bridges. It’s not remotely targeted toward what Americans think they’re getting when politicians campaign on infrastructure.
“But instead of coming up with a better bill, Democrats have decided it’s the English language that has to change.
“They’re embarking on an Orwellian campaign to convince everybody that any government policy whatsoever can be labeled ‘infrastructure.’ Liberals just have to believe in it hard enough.
“These Trojan horse tactics have become a pattern.
“Many of our Democratic colleagues are trying to rewrite 50 states’ election laws from here in Washington, mount a partisan takeover of the Federal Election Commission, but call the whole mess a ‘voting rights bill.’
“The White House’s claims about state election regulations keep getting disproven by fact-checkers. But even so, some of the wealthiest and most powerful institutions in our country have bowed down to fake narratives and decided to amplify the misstatements themselves.
“Look, I’m as strong a supporter of the First Amendment and free speech as anyone in this body. I have been for many years. If people want to participate in debates through political speech, that’s their constitutional right, even if they fall for disinformation.
“But it’s one thing to act like free speakers within a debate. It’s very different to try to short-circuit the debate, to shut down the debate, through economic bullying of American citizens.
“The last two weeks also brought more troubling signs from our southern border. Last month closed with Customs and Border Patrol reporting the highest total for migrant apprehensions in nearly two decades.
“But while Republican Senators traveled to the border, met with officials, and learned about the reality on the ground, the Administration has preferred to inaccurately blame this recent spike on their predecessors.
“Finally, last week the White House rolled out a new budget proposal. I’d been a supporter of Secretary Blinken’s and other officials’ tough talk with the People’s Republic of China. And with Putin again massing forces on Ukraine’s border, Administration officials have been right to warn against further Russian aggression.
“This budget outline was going to be one of the first real tests to see if the Administration was prepared to walk the walk, and put sufficient funding toward our military and strategic competition with China and Russia, both of which have invested heavily in military capabilities that threaten our forces.
“Unfortunately, for all the rhetoric, the President has asked Congress to break from the positive trajectory of the last four years and instead cut defense spending after inflation.
“That’s going backwards on national defense. This would undermine recent bipartisan progress, put the modernization of our Armed Forces in jeopardy, and help China toward their goal of overtaking the United States as the world’s preeminent superpower.
“This budget proposal sent a clear signal to the rest of the world. And unfortunately, it suggested to our allies — from Eastern Europe to the South China Sea — that American resolve is far from guaranteed.
“On all these issues, there is broad and deep bipartisan interest in working together.
“Infrastructure legislation that actually focuses on infrastructure… Voting legislation that actually makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat… And funding legislation that provides the Pentagon with what it needs to keep up with China, Russia, and other adversaries… Legislation on all these topics have a track record of earning overwhelming bipartisan support.
“All these issues are ripe for regular-order, bipartisan work if the President and our Democratic colleagues are interested in going about them the right way. But if the Administration decides to reprise their tactics from February and March, if Democrats just declare ‘our way or the highway,’ we’ll know they have chosen to create political controversies rather than make progress for American families.”
Related Issues: National Security, Campaigns & Elections, China, America's Military, Russia, Infrastructure
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