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Senator McConnell Receives National Award for His Support for Mill Springs Battlefield

April 29, 2015

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was presented the National Park Heritage Award by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) on Tuesday in his office in the United States Capitol. Senator McConnell was recognized by NPCA as a National Park Champion for his support of the Mill Springs Battlefield in Nancy, Kentucky. Last year, Senator McConnell, along with Congressman Hal Rogers in the House, introduced legislation requiring a study for making the Kentucky Battlefield a National Park. The legislation was included in a measure that was signed into law by the President.

“I want to thank that National Parks Conservation Association for this recognition that I accept on behalf of my constituents,” Senator McConnell said. “The Mill Springs Battlefield Association has worked hard to preserve hundreds of acres of battlefield property and to educate the public about the history of the American Civil War and the Battle of Mill Springs, and I was honored to play a role in protecting and preserving this historic battlefield, which is important to the history of the Commonwealth and our nation.”

“It’s an honor to recognize Senator McConnell for championing this historic diversification and expansion of our National Park System,” said NPCA President and CEO Clark Bunting. “As the National Park System readies for its 100th anniversary, we’re so proud of people like Senator McConnell who work with colleagues across the aisle and across the country to protect and enhance America’s ‘best idea.’”

NPCA President/CEO Clark Bunting (left) and Senior VP of Government Affairs Craig Obey (middle) present Senator McConnell with the National Park Heritage Award.

About the National Parks Conservation Association:
Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than one million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage for future generations.

Senator McConnell Questions EPA Administrator on War On Coal

At Congressional hearing, McConnell suggests Congress can use Section 102(c) of Clean Air Act to block job-killing EPA regulation

April 29, 2015

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy today during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing regarding the EPA’s anti-coal regulation that would devastate Kentucky coal jobs and harm our economy.  Earlier this year, Senator McConnell joined the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies for the 114th Congress – the panel which oversees the budget for the EPA. 

Senator McConnell said to EPA Administrator McCarthy during the hearing, “Administrator McCarthy, as you know, things are not well in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have a depression in eastern Kentucky. Your agency’s proposed budget request, if approved, would facilitate the EPA’s plan to shutter coal plants in my state and put countless more of my constituents out of work—all at the service of a regulatory agenda. The actual benefits of which neither you or anyone else can seem to explain. My constituents want their dignity restored. They want to be able to work and they want to be able to provide for their families. You cannot guarantee your carbon regulations won’t cost my constituents jobs. You cannot guarantee your carbon regulations won’t raise their utility bills. You refused my multiple invitations to come to our state and discuss these regulations with my constituents… Now I know that the Obama administration points to Kentucky as a state where your plans are actually underway. But according to our governor’s office, my state will not be able to submit a state plan that meets your demands before the current governor leaves office, which is December of this year. So you might be interested to know that all our major candidates for governor this year, one whom will take office in December of this year, said they’re not going to submit a plan. The current governor, who’s working with you will be gone. He says he can’t finish it by December and none, the Democrat and multiple Republican candidates, none of them are going to submit a plan. So my question is, how in the world do you intend to force my state to comply with a federal plan?”

Senator McConnell also said that Congress could block the plan by using Section 102(c) of the Clean Air Act, which requires Congressional consent for cooperative agreements.

“You and your colleagues like to imply that Congress won’t have a role in this process but when you proposed this plan last year, you cited multi-state programs as a basis to ensure ‘more flexibility and lower costs.’ Recently, one of your deputies told FERC that multi-state plans are a significant part of your strategy. I’d like to acquaint you with Section 102(c) of the Clean Air Act --requires Congressional consent for cooperative agreements,” Senator McConnell said to EPA Administrator McCarthy. “The law reads: ‘No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State  . . . unless and until it has been approved by Congress.’ Doesn’t seem ambivalent to me. I can assure you that as long as I am Majority Leader of the Senate, this body will not sign off on any backdoor national energy tax.”

Click the image below to view the remarks by Senator McConnell and Administrator McCarthy.

The following are Senator McConnell’s remarks:

SENATOR McCONNELL: Administrator McCarthy, as you know, things are not well in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have a depression in eastern Kentucky. Your agency’s proposed budget request, if approved, would facilitate the EPA’s plan to shutter coal plants in my state and put countless more of my constituents out of work—all at the service of a regulatory agenda. The actual benefits of which neither you or anyone else can seem to explain.

My constituents want their dignity restored. They want to be able to work and they want to be able to provide for their families. 

You cannot guarantee your carbon regulations won’t cost my constituents jobs.

You cannot guarantee your carbon regulations won’t raise their utility bills.

You refused my multiple invitations to come to our state and discuss these regulations with my constituents…

And one of your deputies, listen to this, added insult to injury when she said EPA only held hearings on the carbon regulations in areas where your colleagues “were comfortable coming to”.  I assume that’s places unlike Pikeville, Kentucky.

Now I know that the Obama administration points to Kentucky as a state where your plans are actually underway. But according to our governor’s office, my state will not be able to submit a state plan that meets your demands before the current governor leaves office, which is December of this year.

So you might be interested to know that all our major candidates for governor this year, one whom will take office in December of this year, said they’re not going to submit a plan. The current governor, who’s working with you will be gone. He says he can’t finish it by December and none, the Democrat and multiple Republican candidates, none of them are going to submit a plan.

So my question is, how in the world do you intend to force my state to comply with a federal plan? What are you going to require Kentucky to do? Run coal plants less of the time? Build gas plants? Erect windmills? Put up solar panels? Build pipelines? Does EPA really know how to do all these things? Do you think you can really require these things under the Clean Air Act?

Administrator McCarthy responds.

SENATOR McCONNELL: So you have a current governor who can’t finish before he leaves office in December and a next governor whose not going to file the plans. So I assume you’ll have to wrestle with that. So let me move onto another issue.

You and your colleagues like to imply that Congress won’t have a role in this process but when you proposed this plan last year, you cited multi-state programs as a basis to ensure “more flexibility and lower costs.”

Recently, one of your deputies told FERC that multi-state plans are a significant part of your strategy.

I’d like to acquaint you with Section 102(c) of the Clean Air Act requires Congressional consent for cooperative agreements.

The law reads: “No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State...unless and until it has been approved by Congress.” Doesn’t seem ambivalent to me.

I can assure you that as long as I am Majority Leader of the Senate, this body will not sign off on any backdoor national energy tax.

One final point: You have assured international officials that the U.S. is serious about imposing climate change regulations. I’d say what we have learned from your recent time on Capitol Hill is this is not the case. I would remind you that the Executive Branch is only one-third of the U.S. government. The Congress of course didn’t pass Cap and Trade back in 2009 and 2010 when the Democrats had very large majorities here. So, the failure of Congress to sign off should signal to other countries that they should proceed with caution into the December 2015 climate talks in Paris.

Administrator McCarthy responds.

SENATOR McCONNELL: That’s going to be the test. You’re going to have to prove it in court as you know. In the meantime, we got a grim, grim situation in Kentucky.

McConnell Welcomes Japanese PM Abe, Calls for Senate Passage of Trade Promotion Bill

‘The Trans-Pacific Partnership could also, according to one recent estimate, support up to nearly a quarter-million additional jobs in the U.S., including more than 50,000 American jobs in the manufacturing sector alone.’

April 29, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor welcoming Prime Minister Shino Abe:

“Later this morning, we’ll welcome an important friend of the United States to the Capitol: Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister.

“I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say. I know many of my colleagues feel the same way.

“Because Prime Minister Abe doesn’t just lead one of the most important countries and economies in the Asia-Pacific region — he leads one of the most important countries and economies in the entire world.

“Abe has proposed to tackle some tough structural problems other leaders in his country might not touch. But he knows the Japanese people can be persuaded to reward their leaders for taking risks.

“Abe previously served in the cabinet of a free-market prime minister who grabbed hold of economic third-rails of Japanese politics — and then rolled to landslide victory when others counted him out.

“Perhaps that’s why Abe feels liberated to pursue new initiatives of his own.

“On the domestic side, Abe has proposed structural reforms.

“And on the international front, Abe has worked to enhance the role and influence of democratic nations, like the two of ours, in the Asia-Pacific. Just this week in Washington, he signed important agreements with the U.S. on cybersecurity and defense.

“This all serves to underline the enduring importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance. It also reminds us that the Obama Administration must do its part too, by investing in the platforms and capabilities needed to make its announced ‘pivot’ to Asia real. That’s the only way to both bolster democratic nations like Japan in the region while also effectively countering China’s aggressive encroachment upon the territorial and navigational rights of its neighbors.

“Trade is another important way to advance our common values and strengthen our national security and economy.

“For years, Japan and the U.S. had a difficult trading relationship.

“Today though, U.S. and Japanese negotiators actually appear close to reaching an agreement that could significantly lower existing barriers to trade, benefitting both of our economies.

“That breakthrough is being negotiated as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between Pacific nations like Japan, Australia, and the U.S. that would help ensure the region and the world play by fair rules, instead of ceding the field to an increasingly aggressive China.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership could also, according to one recent estimate, support up to nearly a quarter-million additional jobs in the U.S., including more than 50,000 American jobs in the manufacturing sector alone.

“But American and Kentucky workers and farmers will never be able to reap the rewards of selling more ‘Made in America’ goods to the Pacific until Congress passes a bipartisan trade promotion bill.

“Passing that bipartisan legislation is key to enhancing Congress’ role in the trade process, while simultaneously ensuring Presidents of either party will have the tools they need to secure strong and enforceable trade agreements for American workers.

“The bill recently passed the Finance Committee on an overwhelming bipartisan vote, and I intend to take it up once we complete action on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

“But for now, let me just say again that Congress is pleased to have the Prime Minister join us today.

“We thank Prime Minister Abe and his country for their enduring friendship.”

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