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A Path Toward a Fully Functioning FEC

May 22, 2008





Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement Thursday regarding Matthew Petersen, a nominee for the Federal Election Commission:



“The White House acted quickly in nominating Matthew Petersen to fill the sixth and final slot on the Federal Election Commission. This prompt action provides a path toward seating a fully functioning, bipartisan commission. I appreciate the promise of the Majority Leader for a speedy review of Mr. Petersen’s record and look forward to his swift and successful confirmation.



“While we’ll miss his counsel on the Rules Committee, Matthew Petersen is an outstanding choice for the FEC.”



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A Budget We Can’t Afford

May 21, 2008



‘American families can’t afford this budget. American job creators can’t afford this budget. And our economy can’t afford this budget’



Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday regarding the Democrats’ budget:



“We have our differences here in the Senate but there are a few ideas that have wide bipartisan agreement: one is that we need to rein in federal spending, and another is that we need to do our part to ensure that middle class families keep more of the money they earn.



“But, as the Democrats’ latest budget shows, we have very different interpretations of what these ideas mean.



“Democrats said they wanted to raise taxes on the rich and keep taxes low for working families. But this budget would provide for an average tax hike of $2,300 on those earning as little as $31,850 and couples making $63,700 a year. For a little perspective, first year school teachers in Jefferson County, Kentucky, earn $35,982, and I wouldn’t consider them rich.



“With rising gas prices and economic concerns, middle class families are tightening their belts. Yet this budget would take more money out of the paychecks of these families to fill government coffers. At a time when all Americans are watching their spending, shouldn’t Washington be doing the same?



“Not according to this budget, which does nothing to address entitlement spending and sets a new record in non-emergency spending, topping the $1 trillion mark for the first time. And that’s not a record I welcome.



“So I’m a little confused as to why this budget is at odds with the Democrats’ promises of keeping taxes low for working families and putting a stop to wasteful Washington spending.



“It seems to me, that, if Congress was serious about letting Americans keep more of the money they earn, we would make tax relief permanent. If we were serious about reining in spending, we would pass a budget that calls for responsible growth. Instead, we are on the verge of passing a budget that hat goes in the opposite direction, contains the largest tax hike in U.S. history and sets a new record for spending.



“American families can’t afford this budget. American job creators can’t afford this budget. And our economy can’t afford this budget.



“I urge my colleagues to protect the American family’s budget, by voting against this budget.”



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Honoring the Life and Legacy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson

May 21, 2008



Remarks of U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell at the Centennial Celebration of President Lyndon Baines Johnson



Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol, May 21, 2008



“This summer, America observes the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial and celebrates his American spirit.



“Of the many titles Lyndon Johnson once held, the one I’m most qualified to speak about goes with one of the hardest jobs in the U.S. Senate: ‘Mr. Leader.’



“President Johnson was widely acknowledged as one of the Senate’s most powerful floor leaders. In fact, when he ran for president in 1960, some joked that as the Democratic leader under Eisenhower, Johnson had already served eight years as president and was therefore ineligible to run.



“A man of outsized ambition, accomplishments, and defeats, Lyndon Johnson knew to amass power and how to use it, and he did so at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.



“Of his many successes, he once named the passage of the Voting Rights Act as his greatest. I was lucky enough to be present at that Act’s signing ceremony in 1965, held just down the hall in the Capitol Rotunda, at the invite of Senator John Sherman Cooper, my boss, mentor and friend.



“But Johnson’s leadership on civil rights began years earlier. In 1957, he led the Senate’s passage of the first civil-rights legislation since Reconstruction.



“Speaking on that bill on the Senate floor, he foreshadowed the president he was to become, saying ‘Nothing lasting, nothing enduring, has ever been born from hatred and prejudice—except more hatred and more prejudice.’



“Lyndon Johnson’s legacy still endures, long after much of what he fought against has been broken and swept away.



“I welcome you to our Nation’s capital—the site of his most historic battles—to celebrate that important legacy today.”



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