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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the nomination of Vice Admiral Neffenger:

“We’ll vote tonight to bring long-overdue permanent leadership to an agency in urgent need of reform and culture change: the TSA.

“I wish the White House hadn’t waited six months to send us a nominee to lead this troubled agency; but now that the Administration finally has, we’re glad to see it’s a highly qualified candidate like Peter Neffenger.

“It’s never easy to ensure a Senate review process that’s appropriately thorough yet necessarily expeditious in the face of so many months of White House delay, but that’s just what Chairman Thune and Chairman Johnson achieved with the nominee before us.

“I thank them both for their good work.

“If confirmed this evening, Vice Admiral Neffenger will certainly have a tough job ahead of him. We’re all aware of the recent inspector-general report that questioned the TSA’s ability to meet its security mission without change.

“The American people will be counting on Mr. Neffenger to validate the trust their elected representatives place in him tonight by pursuing every necessary reform in the wake of such troubling findings.

“The Senate appears to have confidence he can. There’s no doubt the Senate — and the American people — will be expecting he will.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor urging continued bipartisan cooperation on trade:

“When it comes to keeping the American people safe, there are many things Congress can do.

“Encouraging reform at the TSA is one important step. But so is leading on trade.

“President Obama’s own Secretary of Defense recently said that the trade legislation before us was as important to him ‘as another aircraft carrier.’ But, he cautioned, ‘Time’s running out … [to] cement our influence and leadership in the fastest-growing region in the world.’

“We also know how critical this legislation is to lifting up American workers, American wages, and the American economy too.

“We shouldn’t let this opportunity for a significant bipartisan achievement slip past us. If we can continue working together in a spirit of trust, and if we simply vote the same way we just did a couple weeks ago, we won’t.

“Now I know how important it is, particularly for my friends on the other side of the aisle, to get both TPA and TAA done. That linkage has been acknowledged from the beginning of this process. It’s why I set in motion a process last week — filing cloture on the vehicles for both TPA and TAA so that we get one done followed immediately by the other — that will put both pieces of legislation on the President’s desk before the July 4th state work period.

“I didn’t want anyone to think that we were getting TPA done this week, with a promise to get TAA done at some later undefined point. The process this week is clear. We will vote on TPA, and then we will vote on TAA.

“So here’s how that will look.

“Tomorrow, we’ll begin the process of approving TPA.

“The next day, we’ll begin the process of approving TAA along with the AGOA and Preferences measure.

“And before the week is out, I intend to go to conference on the Customs bill. This is a bill with broad bipartisan support. Members on both sides want to get it done. And we are going to formally begin the process to complete our work on the Customs bill. I am committed to concluding work on that conference as quickly as possible. I’m sure members on both sides will hold us to that commitment.

“So what does this all mean?

“It means that, with continued bipartisan cooperation, we can ensure TPA, TAA, and AGOA reach the President’s desk this week — and it means we can ensure the Customs bill is placed on a path to swift approval too.

“It was always the goal to ensure these bills passed Congress in the end. It remains the bipartisan goal today.

“We’re now on the verge of achieving it.

“With just a little more trust, a little more cooperation, and simply voting consistently, we’ll get there.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the way forward on trade:

“Following today’s encouraging vote in the House, I’d like to update the Senate on where we stand with trade.

“First, a brief look back to how we got where we are today.

“Back in April, the Finance Committee came together to advance four trade bills on a big bipartisan vote

“It was everyone’s goal then to consider all of those bills and to begin the process of passing this significant trade agenda. It remains everyone’s goal now.

“That’s a point that’s been proven many times over.

“When our Democratic colleagues insisted on tying TAA to TPA, it was difficult for most on my side to swallow. Many in my conference oppose TAA. But with the larger goal in mind — and understanding that for my friends on the other side, TAA has often ridden alongside TPA — we put the two policies together. This was not an easy lift for us, but in the interest of moving forward, we compromised.

“The process was not easy. We had a few close calls. We even worked through a filibuster to address our colleagues’ concerns.

“But all the hard work paid off. It eventually led to a good result at the end of last month, a 62 to 37 vote in favor of more opportunities for American paychecks, for American workers and farmers, and for the American economy.

“Unfortunately though, as we all know now, that was not to be the end of the Senate’s role in this process. That’s okay. Not every plan turns out perfectly every time. But the point is that you don’t give up.

“The American people didn’t send us here to sulk, but to work through tough problems. So that’s what we’re going to do.

“Here’s what it’s going to take.

“One, working together toward the shared goal of a win for the American people.

“Two, trusting each other to get there.

“I think we can.

“So here are the next steps.

“In the judgement of members of both parties in the House and the Senate, our best way forward now is to consider TPA and TAA separately.

“That means TAA will come second after TPA, but the votes will be there to pass it — reluctantly, not happily, but they will be there if it means getting something far more important accomplished for the American people.

“To that end, I just filed cloture on the motion to concur with the House-passed TPA bill.

“I then filed cloture on the AGOA and Preferences bill — with an amendment that adds in TAA.

“This puts the Senate on a procedural glide-path to consider and then pass the TPA bill, the AGOA and Preferences bill, and TAA.

“And so, assuming everyone has a little faith and votes the same way they just did a few weeks ago, we’ll be able to get all of these bills to the President soon.

“I know there’s a fourth bill too, the Customs bill. Given the complex and thorny procedural processes at work here, we will have to turn to that one as soon as we’re able — but we will turn to it. It will go to a conference committee and then return to the Senate floor where it too will be passed and sent to the White House.

“I know it’s hard to do, but if we step back a few paces and recall what we were all asking for a few weeks ago, we should be able to take some satisfaction in this. It means that, before July 4, the President will have signed TPA, TAA, and AGOA and Preferences, and that we will be well on our way toward enactment of a robust Customs package. That would be quite an achievement.

“All it’s going to take is some hard work and some faith in one another.”

Recent Press Releases

After Long White House Delay, Senate Ready to Confirm New TSA Administrator

‘I wish the White House hadn’t waited six months to send us a nominee to lead this troubled agency; but now that the Administration finally has, we’re glad to see it’s a highly qualified candidate like Peter Neffenger.’

June 22, 2015

McConnell Optimistic Trade Bills Will Reach President’s Desk This Week

‘It means that, with continued bipartisan cooperation, we can ensure TPA, TAA, and AGOA reach the President’s desk this week — and it means we can ensure the Customs bill is placed on a path to swift approval too.’

June 22, 2015

McConnell Outlines Path Forward on Trade

June 18, 2015