-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Senators spent last week in our home States. We got to hear firsthand updates about the real issues facing real families that we all represent. I was especially glad to return to Western Kentucky to keep working on our recovery from the catastrophic tornadoes that hammered our State in mid-December.

Kentuckians are tough. They are resilient. But many are still reeling from the impact of these storms. They have lost homes, businesses, even loved ones.

I spent last week meeting with local leaders, small business owners, and Kentuckians in the hardest hit areas. We talked about our work here in Washington and the help they can expect to receive from us.

Kentuckians in the affected areas have been grateful for the quick and efficient way that FEMA has begun distributing recovery aid. We know recovery will be a very long process, but my office and I will be standing with our people every step of the way.

And the entire State is excited to improve our roads, bridges, railways, and broadband thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure deal that Congress struck last year.

But like working people across America, Kentuckians also have serious concerns about significant headwinds. Kentucky families are feeling the pain of the worst inflation in 40 years. Our country has been hammered by 7 percent inflation over just the past year. Employers are trying hard to keep up.

Even as they face inflation across all their expenses, businesses across our region have significantly upped their spending on wages and benefits, and many workers have gotten raises. But, actually, it is only on paper because the historic inflation on the Democrats' watch has more than canceled the average increase in wages. Inflation is turning pay raises into pay cuts. This is just one of the many significant problems we confront.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source