Daunting Challenges

Floor Speech

DAUNTING CHALLENGES -- (Senate - September 08, 2008)

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I welcome my good friend the majority leader back to Washington. I hope he is renewed after the August break.

These past several weeks have been extremely instructive for me, as I am sure they were for a lot of the rest of our colleagues. I talked to a lot of Kentuckians, and not a single one suggested that I come back to Washington and do nothing until the November election.

America faces a number of daunting challenges. Very few of them were unknown to us when we all showed up here in January of 2007. Very few of them have been addressed, but there is still time to do significant work in the next weeks. I am still hopeful that we will.

We can protect millions of Americans from the alternative minimum tax and extend a host of expired and expiring tax incentives, including the renewable energy tax credits that drive much needed investment in alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. We should come together and agree to a long-term extension of these important tax incentives before the end of this year.

So far, Congress has been unable to come together on a comprehensive solution to our Nation's energy crisis. But the book hasn't closed yet on the 110th Congress. There is still time to act on this issue. And we should. We must work to provide much needed relief for Americans across the country who are struggling with the high price of gas at the pump. Congress can still show that we are responsive to the needs of the American people by doing something about the crisis now.

Some might disagree. One Senator on the other side recently said that he thinks frustration over the high price of gas has ``peaked.'' But I have seen no evidence of this whatsoever in my State. In fact, I am confident, after spending the past month away from Washington, that if we did little else these next few weeks but pass a serious response to high gas prices, fund the Government, and protect taxpayers, the American people would view these next few weeks as extremely productive.

Americans want us to act to increase offshore exploration. There is nothing to fear in this. We can and should increase domestic energy exploration, even as we encourage the use of alternative energy sources and new conservation measures. There is no good reason we cannot all get behind a balanced approach that would allow us to find more and use less at the same time.

We also need to do our basic duty of funding the Government by passing appropriations bills. Over the last 25 years, no other Congress has failed to pass a single appropriations bill this late in the year. Even the infamous do-nothing Congress of 1948 had passed more than a dozen appropriations bills at this point on the legislative calendar. This is certainly not a record to be proud of. But it is not a record that has to stand. We still have time to change course. And we should.

While at war, we have yet to fund the troops, homeland security, and critical domestic programs. We have yet to fund veterans hospitals, education, transportation, and national parks. These are the basics. We should take them on. The upcoming election is no excuse to put off our responsibilities for another day. Americans have held a regularly scheduled election every 2 years for more than two centuries. The work of Government must go on regardless of how strong the partisan currents flow. It always has, and this year should be no exception.

We still have a few more weeks to do right by the American people. Let's not just mark time. Let's make a difference and do something constructive to help the American people in a difficult economic time. Let's put political games aside for a few weeks and do what is expected of us. This is not too much to ask, and I, for one, remain hopeful that we can rise to the occasion.

I yield the floor.

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