Kentucky’s senior U.S. Senator, Mitch McConnell, was unanimously re-elected by his colleagues on Wednesday to serve as Republican Leader for the 113th Congress. Senator McConnell is only the second Kentuckian to lead his party in the U.S. Senate. The other Senator from Kentucky to serve as his party’s leader was Alben Barkley.
“I am honored that my colleagues once again supported me and invested their trust in me to lead the team as Republican Leader for another two years,” McConnell said. “We have an energized leadership team that is committed to finding solutions to the critical issues facing our country. I will also use my leadership post to work on behalf of all Kentuckians to ensure they have a strong voice in the Nation’s Capital.”
Sen. McConnell was nominated by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), who each spoke on his behalf. This is the fourth time that Sen. McConnell was elected to serve as Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate.
Sen. McConnell also released a statement today regarding the need for presidential leadership on a specific and serious plan to solve the fiscal crisis, a plan that can be signed into law:
“With a potentially devastating tax hike set to strike nearly every American at the end of the year, Republicans have implored the President to put the campaign rhetoric aside and propose a balanced plan of the kind that Republicans have repeatedly said we could support. Such a plan would require both parties to do something they would not ordinarily do without either harming the economy or compromising our core principles. The scope of this challenge calls for presidential leadership. That’s what the American people should be able to expect, and that’s what Republicans are calling for. Republicans have shown a willingness to find common ground. It’s now the President’s turn to propose a specific plan that includes meaningful entitlement reforms to strengthen and protect these programs for future generations, and that can actually attract the support of both parties as that is the only type of plan that has a realistic chance of becoming law.”
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