Recent Press Releases

‘At a time of high unemployment in the Obama economy, it’s a shame that the administration has delayed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline for years. Here’s the single greatest shovel-ready project in America - one that could create thousands of jobs right away - but the President simply isn’t interested.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement today after the Obama Administration announced yet another delay in whether to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the creation of thousands of jobs:   

“It is crystal clear that the Obama administration is simply not serious about American energy and American jobs.  I guess he wasn’t serious about having a pen and a phone, either. At a time of high unemployment in the Obama economy, it’s a shame that the administration has delayed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline for years. Here’s the single greatest shovel-ready project in America - one that could create thousands of jobs right away - but the President simply isn’t interested.  Apparently radical activists carry more weight than Americans desperate to get back on the job. More jobs left behind in the Obama economy.”

 

 

 

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McConnell on the Situation in Ukraine

‘Here is what I would do: I would be sending arms to the Ukrainian army. I would encourage the European Union to expand and take in Ukraine…I would provide serious assistance to the Ukrainians so that they could defend themselves.’

April 17, 2014

MT. STERLING, KYU.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on WMST’s “Mid-Mornings on Main” with Dan Manley in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, this morning. The following are excerpts from the interview in response to a question on President Obama and Ukraine:

“You are hard pressed to name a single place in the world where we are in better shape now than we were when he came to office. When you think of Syria, you think of the endless discussions with Iran. And so you got Vladimir Putin sitting there looking at that—a guy who believes that the breakup of the Soviet Union was the single biggest disaster, geopolitical disaster, of the previous century, who yearns to restore the empire—and he looks at American leadership and concludes that they won't do anything. And we're not talking about sending in the troops here, nobody is talking about that, but clearly sanctioning a few friends of Putin's is not going to be viewed as a serious response. But, we are where we are.

“Here is what I would do: I would be sending arms to the Ukrainian army. I would encourage the European Union to expand and take in Ukraine…I would provide serious assistance to the Ukrainians so that they could defend themselves.”

“I would renew the discussions that the president just dropped, the idea of missile defense and the Czech Republic and Poland at the beginning of his term as a sort of a gesture to the Russians. I would reengage with the Pols and the Czechs and see if we can't get missile defense back in those countries. All of those steps would indicate without sending in a single American soldier that the U.S. is serious in standing up to this kind of new form of Russian aggression.”

Senator McConnell Leads Delegation Letter to FDA in Support of Kentucky’s Bourbon and Livestock Producers

‘With the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate well above the national average, now is not the time to create needless regulatory burdens and increased costs for both of these growing industries. This Administration's excessive regulatory agenda has already caused enough harm for Kentucky.’

April 16, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell led members of Kentucky’s federal delegation in urging Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, to reconsider the agency’s interpretation regarding how spent grains – a byproduct from Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey – are regulated and used to feed Kentucky’s dairy cows and beef cattle. Joining Senator McConnell on a letter to Commissioner Hamburg were Senator Rand Paul and Congressmen Hal Rogers, Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie, Thomas Massie, and Andy Barr.

In the letter to Commissioner Hamburg, the members say they have heard from Kentucky’s distilling and livestock producers on a regulatory matter proposed by the FDA that would impede the long-standing, symbiotic relationship between the Commonwealth’s distilleries and its farmers.  The proposed rule would tentatively place new regulations on what distilleries do with spent grains--the natural byproduct of the distillation process.
 
In the letter they wrote, “the distillation process requires a combination of corn, rye or barley.  The leftover liquid byproducts—the spent grains— are then typically provided to farmers for use as animal feed.  Changing the regulations for these spent grains could result in distilleries disposing of the byproducts rather than their allowing farmers continued access to them.  This is problematic for Kentucky because the disposal of spent grains would be costly, as rural municipal wastewater facilities are generally ill-equipped to handle the volume of spent grains produced by distilleries.  One distiller in our state has indicated their company would have to dispose of 400,000 gallons of spent grains per day, which would swamp their local wastewater treatment plant.  As a result of this lack of existing infrastructure, under this proposed rule, distillers would be required to form treatment plans for excess distillers’ grain.  This daunting task would cost distillers millions of dollars that could otherwise be spent creating long-term jobs.
 
“Additionally, spent grains have a long history of being fed to livestock.  This is due to its high protein content and affordability as distillers typically charge a nominal fee or offer spent grains to farmers free of charge.  Any action by the FDA inhibiting our distillers’ abilities to offer farmers spent grains would cost farmers an inexpensive and invaluable source of nutritious animal feed, driving up their costs as well.
 
“The distilling industry provides Kentucky with over 9,000 well-paying jobs, $415 million in annual payroll and $126 million in annual state and local tax revenue.  Moreover, Kentucky’s livestock industry— despite severe weather conditions in recent years— continues to place the Commonwealth as the leading beef cattle state east of the Mississippi River.  With the Commonwealth’s unemployment rate well above the national average, now is not the time to create needless regulatory burdens and increased costs for both of these growing industries.  This Administration's excessive regulatory agenda has already caused enough harm for Kentucky.
 
“It is our understanding the FDA intends to revisit this issue within the context of the proposed rule this summer.  In doing so, we would strongly urge your agency to exclude spent grains entirely from inclusion within any final rulemaking.” 

Regarding the letter, Dave Maples, President of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, said “As the largest cattle producing state east of the Mississippi River, it is critical Kentucky’s cattlemen continue to have access to low-cost, protein-rich distillers’ grains for their cattle. Thank you, Sen. McConnell for leading this letter, as well as Sen. Paul, and Congressmen Rogers, Whitfield, Guthrie, Massie, and Barr for once again fighting against overregulation in Washington on behalf of Kentucky cattlemen and livestock producers.”

Eric Gregory, President, Kentucky Distillers' Association, said “the Kentucky Distillers' Association and our 18 member companies applaud Leader McConnell for raising the awareness of this proposed rule with the FDA and the potential disastrous consequences to our signature Bourbon industry, our farm families and our communities. Our highly regulated distillers have been offering spent grains as a safe, natural and viable feed source to Kentucky's farmers for generations. It makes absolutely no sense to discard a product with a long history of safe use as animal feed and turn it into landfill waste, especially in this era of sustainability."