The Economy

Floor Speech

THE ECONOMY -- (Senate - September 18, 2008)

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on the front page of every newspaper in towns and cities throughout the country, Americans are reading stories about our economy and they are looking for answers. They are looking for leadership. They are looking for a sign that everything is going to be OK--or, at the very least, a sign that their elected officials are committed to fixing the problem.

I know that, in Kentucky, it is not the hard work that bothers them. They have always held up their end of the bargain. It is what they can't control that makes them nervous. They want to know that their pensions, their savings, and their families are going to be OK. They want to be reassured that the investments taxpayers made this week were the right thing to do.

Considering what the American people have seen from some of our colleagues on the Senate floor this week, I understand their nervousness. Instead of working to ease the anxiety Americans are feeling about the economy, some are using the anxiety to continue their everlasting campaign. Instead of coming together to face this problem head-on as a country, some colleagues have taken to the Senate floor to blame Republicans for the bad news.

It is little wonder why Americans hold this Congress in such low regard. We can all come up with a million reasons to blame someone for bad news, but it doesn't change the fact that we all face these challenges together. It is time to confront the problem rather than point fingers. That is the challenge for this Congress in the days ahead.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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