McConnell: Americans Need More Targeted COVID-19 Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the week’s business:

“The latest results of vaccine trials continue to suggest that our victory over the coronavirus is on the horizon.

“But here in Washington, the additional relief that would help families, workers, schools, and small businesses cross the finish line has been held up for months while Democratic leaders pursued an all-or-nothing approach.

“When the Speaker of the House put forward the so-called HEROES Act back in May, multiple House Democrats called it out for the political stunt it clearly was. One Democrat said it was ‘not focused,’ ‘rushed to a vote too fast,’ and it ‘doesn’t help us accomplish [the] core mission’ of helping struggling people.

“Well, after several months with no progress, this same Democrat just said a few days ago that Senate Republicans’ proposal is, quote, ‘a bill we can pass’ and ‘we should negotiate that to the finish.’ Even Speaker Pelosi’s own members think our Senate Republican bill is better than hers.

“Well, let’s hope our Democratic colleagues will finally let us make law in all the enormously important areas where we do not even disagree. In the meantime, the Senate will proceed with pressing business on the executive calendar.

“We’ll vote to confirm several more well-qualified nominees, beginning today with Taylor McNeel, the president’s choice to serve as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi. I hope each of my colleagues will join me in supporting this impressive nominee and those who will follow.”