News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the need for the President to lay out a credible plan to defeat ISIL:

“Seven months ago, ISIL terrorists massacred 130 victims across the city of Paris. Six months ago, ISIL supporters murdered more than a dozen victims at a holiday party in San Bernardino. Three months ago, ISIL bombings killed and maimed indiscriminately in the heart of Europe. And then, last month, ISIL’s spokesman issued a chilling declaration of war against the Western World. He called for attacks, specifically ‘lone wolf’ attacks, throughout the month of Ramadan in Europe and the United States. ‘Get prepared…to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers,’ he said, ‘[T]he smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would if you were with us.’

“On Sunday, a terrorist claiming allegiance to ISIL took 49 American lives. The next day, an ISIL supporter in France murdered two people including an off-duty police officer.

“We hope to learn more about the Orlando terrorist attack and the depth of that particular terrorist’s involvement with ISIL when Senators are briefed later today by the FBI Director and the Homeland Security Secretary. But this much seems clear already.

“I do not believe this was some random act of violence. It seems clear this was coldblooded murder committed by a terrorist who picked his targets with deliberate malice, who pledged his allegiance to a group that stones gay men and tosses them from rooftops. To a group that enslaves women. To a group that crucifies children.

“ISIL is not the JV Team, it’s the personification of evil in our world. ISIL is not ‘contained,’ nor can it be.

“The way to prevent more ISIL-inspired and ISIL-directed heartbreak is to defeat ISIL. This is why we’ve repeatedly demanded a serious plan from the President to defeat ISIL, and done what we can to fill the leadership vacuum he’s left. This is why we’ve worked to strengthen law-enforcement, rebuild our military, and develop counter-terrorism tools designed to save lives.

“The terrorist attack in Orlando underlines the critical importance of this work, and it presents each of us with a choice: Do we want to make the tough choices to actually solve the problem and defeat ISIL, or do we want to use the Senate floor to make 30-second political ads?

“As I said, the principal way to prevent ISIL-inspired or directed attacks is to defeat ISIL inside Iraq and Syria.

“The President’s containment strategy, which has relied primarily upon a ground proxy force of Syrian YPG Kurds, will not be sufficient to dislodge ISIL from its headquarters in Raqqa or clear and hold ground in Arab parts of Syria.

“The next President must do much more, and there are steps we can take today to help him or her succeed in that effort. The sweeping defense bill we passed yesterday represents a decisive step in the right direction.

“Not only will it help prepare our next commander-in-chief, it will help strengthen military readiness, better enable servicemembers to confront threats, and help keep the American people safer from an array of national security challenges. Passing that bill sent a strong signal to our men and women in uniform. It sent a strong signal to our allies. It sent a strong signal to our adversaries. But there’s more we can and must do.

“This week, through the appropriations process, we’ll continue to discuss ways we can shore up our efforts to fight terrorism. Several Republican colleagues have already offered ideas on how we can do so.

“Republicans have offered ideas to address the threat of ‘lone-wolf’ attacks like the one we saw in Orlando. Republicans have offered ideas to help connect the dots with respect to terrorist communications. Republicans have offered ideas to help disrupt terrorists’ plans. These are the kinds of things we’ve long advocated. They were important before the horrific events this weekend. They're all the more important today.

“By passing the underlying appropriations bill, we can provide the FBI with more of the support it needs to follow leads generated within our borders. In the meantime, I encourage Senators to work with the very capable bill managers who crafted this legislation — the Senior Senators from Alabama and Maryland — if they have other effective ideas to make this bill stronger.

“This much is clear. We can choose to respond to terrorist attacks after the damage is already done, or we can make it our goal to prevent them. I know my choice. I am going to keep doing what I can to prevent the pain and the loss of terrorism.

“Our families and communities are counting on it. Our freedoms and rights as Americans are counting on it.

“We must continue to do what's necessary to seek out terror threats at every level and protect the country we love.”

‘We are a nation at war. We are a nation under attack. We need to continue taking action to protect our country. This bill will send a strong signal to our men and women in uniform. It will send a strong signal to our allies. It will send a strong signal to our adversaries. We need to pass it today.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor today honoring the life of former Ohio U.S. Senator George Voinovich:

“I’d like to say a few words about a colleague we lost this weekend. George Voinovich was the oldest of six children and, until his late teens, an aspiring doctor. Then he realized he ‘didn’t get along’ with the sciences. So he joined the Boy Scouts. He got involved in student government. And he told his friends that, one day, he would become mayor and governor. He was right.

“This is the guy voters chose to turn around Cleveland after a wrenching fiscal crisis. Mayor Voinovich came to office with a simple motto—‘Together, We Can Do It’— and together they did. Debts were paid down. Jobs were added. And, slowly, the ‘buckle of the Rust Belt’ became ‘Comeback City.’

“His success propelled him to the Governor’s mansion, where he served for two terms, and then to the U.S. Senate where he served another two terms.

“Here in the Senate, he was at the forefront at a number of important policy debates. He was an advocate for more efficient and effective government. He was an advocate for an all-of-the-above energy approach. And this son of Eastern European immigrants cited his work to help spearhead two rounds of NATO expansion as one of his proudest achievements.

“‘[When NATO’s Secretary General] officially announced the decision to invite Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia,’ he recalled, ‘This was truly one of the most thrilling days of my tenure as a Senator.’

“Senator Voinovich had a storied political career that took him from Cleveland to Columbus to Washington and around the world. All along, he kept himself guided by his Catholic faith and anchored by his family. He ultimately retired to spend more time with the people who really mattered. At the top of that list was the woman who made him whole.

“If you don’t think storybook romances can start at a Cleveland Young Republicans Club, then you didn’t know George and Janet Voinovich. George and Janet were best friends, they were political confidants, they were deeply in love.

“Here in Washington, you could find them strolling to the Capitol for work or to St. Joe’s for mass. When Janet came to visit the office, George would greet her with a kiss and a hug. When the Voinoviches flew back to Cleveland—which was most weekends—they would hold hands and say a prayer across the aisle to prepare for takeoff. And when it was wheels down, Janet would put Ohio’s Senior Senator to work on their home in Cleveland. They purchased that house in the 1970s, by the way, in the same working-class neighborhood where George was raised. They spent the rest of their lives there together. But they never got around to installing an air-conditioner. Too expensive, George said.

“George Voinovich was known for many things in his decades of public service. He was honest, he was plainspoken, he was loyal to those who worked for him, and—yes—he was frugal. Janet may not have appreciated it when the heat waves hit, but these are qualities that served him well in office.

“When asked about his legacy, Senator Voinovich said he just wanted to know he’d touched people’s lives and made things better. The mark of his impact across his city and across his state are clear enough to see. There’s the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University, the Voinovich Trade Center in Columbus, the Voinovich atrium at Cleveland’s Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and there’s the George V. Voinovich Bridge. The bridge, named for a man known for building bridges of his own, went dark in his honor last night.

“The City of Cleveland, the State of Ohio, and the citizens of our country have lost an outstanding public servant. Many of us have lost a friend. The Senate marks his passing with sorrow. We will keep Janet and the rest of the Voinovich family in our thoughts.”

Recent Press Releases

Republican-Led Senate Continues Working on Bipartisan Efforts to Fight Terrorism

'The way to prevent more ISIL-inspired and ISIL-directed heartbreak is to defeat ISIL. This is why we’ve repeatedly demanded a serious plan from the President to defeat ISIL, and done what we can to fill the leadership vacuum he’s left.'

June 15, 2016

McConnell: ‘We Need to Defeat, Not Contain, ISIL’

June 14, 2016

McConnell Honors the Life of George Voinovich

‘Senator Voinovich had a storied political career that took him from Cleveland to Columbus to Washington and around the world…the citizens of our country have lost an outstanding public servant.’

June 13, 2016