Senate Democrats Choose Messaging Vote Over Regular Order
‘For a bill with the potential to so seriously impact working Americans, one might expect its proponents to engage seriously on resolving obstacles to bipartisan support. You might have expected the Chairman of the Finance Committee, or the Democratic Leader, to provide for regular order… To schedule a markup… To give this bill a shot of actually passing the Senate. But you’d be wrong.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Senate Democrats’ show vote summer:
“Today, as the Senate prepares to leave town for the August state work period, the Democratic Leader has decided to squeeze in one more vote that isn’t ready for prime time.
“To our colleagues on the Finance Committee – and to anyone paying attention in recent months – it’s been clear that the ‘Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act’ that Chairman Wyden wrote with the House needed some serious revisions to earn 60 votes here in the Senate.
“We don’t need a vote today to tell us that’s still the case.
“Colleagues on this side of the aisle have serious unresolved concerns.
“They don’t like how more than ninety percent of the supposed benefits of the bill as written come as a $30-billion-dollar expansion of cash welfare instead of relief for working taxpayers.
“They’re concerned about how it would weaken the work requirements tied to those benefits under current law.
“For a bill with the potential to so seriously impact working Americans, one might expect its proponents to engage seriously on resolving obstacles to bipartisan support. You might have expected the Chairman of the Finance Committee, or the Democratic Leader, to provide for regular order… To schedule a markup… To give this bill a shot of actually passing the Senate.
“But, alas, you’d be wrong.
“Of course, months without progress on this front aren’t for lack of effort from Ranking Member Crapo, and I’m grateful for his dedication to addressing Republican concerns.
“Today’s vote doesn’t seem to be intended to produce a legislative outcome. In fact, the Democratic Leader himself admitted this week that even losing the vote would still be a political benefit for vulnerable Senate Democrats running for re-election.
“Well, I’m not so certain the American people are impressed by message votes. And I don’t think they’ll give out points for incomplete work.”
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Related Issues: Tax Reform
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