{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where state = \"KY\" and year = 2021 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://comer.house.gov/2021/12/communities-come-together-in-tornado-aftermath", "Communities Come Together in Tornado Aftermath", "2021-12-28", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "In the wake of the devastating tornados which recently hit parts of western and central Kentucky, our commonwealth\u2019s resiliency has been tested like never before.\n\nBut after a natural disaster that killed 77 Kentuckians, destroyed countless homes and wiped out entire communities, caring citizens have responded with unbelievable compassion. Private charities and individuals have been on the ground cleaning up debris and providing warm meals, in addition to supplying financial and material assistance.\n\nVarious Kentucky school districts have sent school buses full of supplies to affected communities. And Americans from coast to coast have contributed monetarily to the relief and cleanup efforts.\n\nIn the very communities affected by the storm, unsung heroes have stepped up to help their friends and neighbors. First responders have pulled bodies out of rubble. Electric crews have pulled long hours restoring power to residents. And many people have volunteered by setting up relief funds, coordinating local donation centers, and much more. All of these efforts have been essential to getting communities back on their feet, and represent the very best that America has to offer.\n\nIn terms of size and volume, this tornado was unlike anything we\u2019ve ever seen. After touring damaged sites all over the 1st Congressional District, I\u2019m heartbroken to see such devastation hit so many our small towns. I\u2019m thankful to all the local leaders and concerned citizens who are working tirelessly to restore the beauty of their communities.\n\nI am committed to using my office as a resource for anyone in need of assistance from the federal government for cleanup and relief efforts. While the work of private charitable organizations and community leaders have been instrumental, there are also government disaster assistance programs to help those in need.\n\nThe White House has approved a major disaster declaration for 14 Kentucky counties, making these areas eligible for federal aid programs designed to cover basic needs not covered by private insurance. This can include rental payments for temporary housing, home repairs, low-interest loans (for losses not fully covered by insurance), counseling, farm assistance, and more.\n\nFor more information on these various programs available, as well as how people can access them, you can visit my website resource page at comer.house.gov/tornados. Please do not hesitate to also call my office if we can answer any questions.\n\nWe will never forget the 77 Kentuckians lost to such grave tragedy. Gone but not forgotten, their families remain in my thoughts and prayers as they navigate such tremendous loss.\n\nLikewise, the communities affected by this disaster will remain at the top of our hearts and minds as we conclude a year that is unfortunately ending on a sad note. But even in the wake of such devastation, we can be inspired by the resilience that Kentuckians have shown to help their friends and neighbors - and come together to rebuild all that was lost.\n\nRep. James Comer is a United States Congressman for the 1st Congressional District, which spans from south central Kentucky to the river counties of far western Kentucky. Contact him with any questions or concerns in his Washington D.C. office at (202) 225-3115, in the Tompkinsville Office at (270) 487-9509, in the Paducah Office at (270) 408-1865, or schedule an appointment in the Madisonville Office by calling (270) 487-9509.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=9C81807A-19D9-439F-9708-50C1DC32AABA", "McConnell and Comer Help Secure Over $3.3 Million for Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Improvements", "2021-12-22", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Representative James Comer (KY-01) announced today the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will distribute $3,320,000 to the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority (PMCRA) to fund infrastructure improvements at the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport. DOT distributed these funds through their Port Infrastructure Development Program\u2019s competitive grant process. Senator McConnell and Representative Comer wrote letters to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in support of PMCRA\u2019s grant application.\n\nPMCRA will use the funds allocated through this grant to modernize the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport\u2019s material handling equipment, repair damaged facilities, and upgrade site conditions at their bulk yard. These upgrades will ensure reliable throughput for agriculture and construction supply chains, bolstering economic development in the quad-state area.\n\n\u201cThe Paducah-McCracken County Riverport is one of the most important transportation hubs in all of Kentucky. Situated at the heart of America\u2019s inland waterway system, the port forms a vital link in the supply chains that serve consumers and businesses across the Commonwealth. It is more important than ever to be able to move much-needed materials in and out of our state efficiently,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cToday\u2019s grant announcement is a major step forward in the modernization and improvement of Kentucky\u2019s river infrastructure. I was proud to stand alongside Congressman Comer and the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority in advocating for this grant\u2019s approval.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Paducah-McCracken County riverport is vital to safely transporting the commodities America\u2019s economy relies on. Given its strategic location and key role in the shipment of goods, Paducah is the perfect recipient of this competitive grant to improve economic development and inland waterway transportation in the United States,\u201d said Congressman James Comer. \u201cI\u2019m eager to see this quality investment in Kentucky\u2019s waterways get off the ground, and was happy to join Senator McConnell in successfully pushing for this funding.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F00C6AD6-8591-47DD-B6E3-C53B74363344", "McConnell: Democrats Have Little to Show for 11 Months Running Pandemic Response", "2021-12-22", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding the Biden Administration and COVID-19:\n\n\u201cEvery American is rooting for our country in the continued fight against COVID-19. But 11 months into the Biden Administration, we need an honest accounting.\n\n\u201cIn 2020, then-candidate Biden promised he would \u2018shut down the virus.\u2019 Now new cases in our major cities are breaking records. When the virus had killed 220,000 Americans, then-candidate Biden said \u2018anyone who\u2019s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States.\u2019 Now we have lost 800,000 and counting.\n\n\u201cLast week, Vice President Harris said their Administration was surprised and caught off guard by new variants such as delta and omicron. But new variants were public knowledge before this Administration took office.\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 springtime \u2018rescue plan\u2019 spent just 9% on the health fight and 91% on other issues. The Biden Administration has also taken hundreds of millions of dollars from COVID testing and the Strategic National Stockpile and diverted it to their border crisis.\n\n\u201cAs a result, eleven months into this Administration, we are still woefully short on rapid and affordable testing. Americans seeking tests before the holidays are facing massive lines and empty shelves.\n\n\u201cEleven months in, we are still short on important treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.\n\n\u201cEleven months in, a promising new antiviral pill was only belatedly approved today by the FDA and the Biden Administration preordered too little, too late.\n\n\u201cEleven months in, with a predictable seasonal surge threatening hospitals, the Administration has inexplicably only just begun releasing funding that Congress set aside for health providers.\n\n\u201cMonths ago, Senate Republicans wrote the Biden Administration asking why they were limiting important treatments and if they had any plans to guard against future variants. They never responded.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats spent 2021 chasing unrelated far-left ambitions and largely sleepwalking through the pandemic.\n\n\u201cA million Americans per day were getting vaccinated before President Biden took office. What new tools have Democrats added to the fantastic vaccines they inherited? Where is their sequel to Operation Warp Speed? What do they have to show for 11 months?\n\n\u201cI continue to urge everyone to take advantage of the safe and effective vaccines which the Biden Administration inherited. They offer fantastic protection against hospitalization and death.\n\n\u201cAt the same time, it is clear that vaccines will not completely halt transmission or new variants.\n\n\u201cThis makes it even more unacceptable that the Biden Administration is only producing illegal mandates and angry, confrontational speeches about vaccines. This Administration\u2019s careless and confusing rhetoric has stoked an avoidable culture war around these lifesaving tools which they inherited.\n\n\u201cThe coronavirus will not simply disappear. Angry speeches about vaccines are not a strategy.\n\n\u201cDemocrats must quit the distractions, get focused, and move toward a future where the coronavirus is not a perpetual crisis, but a fact of life that we manage and mitigate. More and cheaper tests. More and better treatments. More vaccinations, but with unity, not bitter rhetoric. No more lockdowns. And no more Big Labor veto over children\u2019s in-person educations.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-2021-festivusreport-government-waste/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases 2021 \u2018Festivus\u2019Reporton Government Waste", "2021-12-22", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 22, 2021\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight (ETSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released his 2021 \u201cFestivus\u201d Report, totaling over $52,598,515,585 billion in government waste.\n\nThis marks Dr. Paul\u2019s and the subcommittee\u2019s seventh edition of the Festivus Report as he continues working to alert the American people to how their federal government uses their hard-earned money.\n\nSections are broken down into COVID-19 spending, Afghanistan, and Miscellaneous.\n\nYou can find Dr. Paul\u2019s 2021 Festivus Report HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=2374FC54-6733-4A44-9EBD-E9E2EB0294F1", "McConnell Helps Secure Over $115 Million in Pandemic Relief Funding for Kentucky Healthcare Providers", "2021-12-20", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will distribute more than $115 million in pandemic relief funding to 897 Kentucky healthcare providers through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). These funds will be distributed as Phase 4 of the Provider Relief Fund, which was established through the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.\n\nSenator McConnell secured a total of $178 billion for the Provider Relief Fund through several bipartisan COVID-19 relief packages he led to Senate passage last year. This September, the Senator also wrote a letter to the HHS Secretary advocating for Kentucky\u2019s healthcare providers to receive these funds. Previously, this Administration had not released any of the allocated Provider Relief Fund despite its availability throughout 2021.\n\nKentucky\u2019s relief funding comes as part of a nationwide, $9 billion payment to more than 69,000 healthcare providers who have experienced revenue loss or expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The nationwide average payment is $58,000 for small providers, $289,000 for medium providers, and $1.7 million for large providers.\n\n\u201cNobody has felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as acutely as our healthcare providers, who have been on the front lines of this crisis since day one. Now, as many of these same heroes mobilize to assist with Kentucky\u2019s tornado recovery efforts, they are also dealing with extensive pandemic-related expenses and revenue loss. Today\u2019s relief funding announcement will go a long way toward easing that financial distress,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cI was proud to lead several bipartisan COVID-19 relief bills to passage last year and help our healthcare providers receive the relief funding they need to survive. Kentucky and America simply cannot allow our healthcare providers to flounder while we still work to defeat the pandemic.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese funds will help cover the heavy losses that Baptist Health has faced in treating more than 21,000 COVID-19 patients due to the significant costs of the additional medical supplies, drugs and manpower needed for effective treatment. We thank Sen. McConnell for his role in facilitating these much-needed funds,\u201d said Dr. Gerard Colman, CEO of Baptist Health.\n\n\u201cOwensboro Health is extremely appreciative of Senator McConnell\u2019s ongoing efforts to empower health systems like ours as we meet the challenges of COVID-19,\u201d Mark Marsh, Owensboro Health President and CEO, said. \u201cThis relief comes as we see an uptick in hospitalizations and prepare for another wave of the virus and new variants in our predominately rural service area.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are extremely grateful for the additional Provider Relief Funds that have been released to providers to help cover the additional costs incurred from caring for patients with COVID. Patients with COVID require longer stays and more intense resources, many needing additional therapies, ICU care, or a ventilator. Extra supplies and Personal Protective Equipment are also required to prevent spread to associates and other patients. Meanwhile, supply costs and staffing costs have increased significantly during the pandemic due to shortages nationwide and capacity is being strained at St. Elizabeth and all hospitals requiring many to cancel elective surgeries and procedures at various points during the pandemic. The Provider Relief Fund established through Senator McConnell\u2019s CARES Act have been critical in helping St. Elizabeth sustain high quality operations throughout the pandemic. Since we are experiencing another surge and cases are not declining, the newly released funds will help us to continue providing excellent care to our community,\u201d said Garren Colvin, President and CEO St. Elizabeth Healthcare.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/12/comer", "Comer, Kentucky Delegation Honor Victims of Deadly Storms", "2021-12-19", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On Tuesday evening, Congressman James Comer (KY-1) and Kentucky\u2019s federal delegation in the U.S. House honored the victims of horrific tornadoes that swept through Kentucky in recent days.\n\nFollowing his remarks, Comer led the full House of Representatives in a moment of silence to pay tribute to the lives lost.\n\nYou can view his full remarks here.\n\nCongressman Comer represents the region of Kentucky most impacted by Friday evening\u2019s storms.\n\nCongressman Comer\u2019s Full Remarks:\n\n\u201cMadam Speaker,\n\nOn behalf of all the citizens of West Kentucky, I want to thank everyone in America for the outpouring of support, the prayers, the financial support, the people who took off and traveled to West Kentucky to help remove debris and save people\u2026\n\nThe devastation there is unlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen. And in talking to the media that\u2019s all in Mayfield, Kentucky right now as we speak, it\u2019s the worst damage they\u2019ve ever seen from a tornado.\n\nBut the people in West Kentucky are resilient. They have so much pride in their communities. Neighbor has helped neighbor, and that will continue.\n\nI ask, Madam Speaker, for a moment of silence on the House floor to remember the 74 citizens of Kentucky who perished in the terrible series of tornadoes that swept through our state this weekend.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=98CAA67D-9E16-4334-B9D2-81705FC39D24", "$1.5M Federal Grant Funds New Return to Workforce Program", "2021-12-16", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "MANCHESTER, KY \u2013 U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (KY-05) and Volunteers of America Mid-States announced the launch of a transformational workforce development program in eastern Kentucky supported by a highly competitive $1.5 million federal grant.\n\nWorkforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) is a dynamic workforce development and training program that will change the lives of hundreds of eastern Kentucky residents, whose struggles with substance use has sidelined them from work.\n\n\u201cFor those in eastern Kentucky who have struggled with substance abuse and job displacement and believed they were hopeless and alone, this is a message that help is on the way,\u201d said Jennifer Hancock, President and CEO of Volunteers of America. \"This partnership will help to transform lives.\u201d\n\nVolunteers of America Mid-States will lead the partnership with Eastern Kentucky University, AdventHealth Manchester, Goodwill Industries and other community agencies to provide workforce case management, job training and supportive services to people in addiction recovery in Bell, Clay, Jackson, Knox, Laurel, Leslie, McCreary and Whitley counties.\n\nLeaders from both organizations as well as Congressman Rogers and Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers marked the announcement at EKU\u2019s Manchester campus.\n\n\u201cAs more people recover from substance use disorder in our region, this program will equip them with the skills and tools they need to take the next steps in their journey. Earning a paycheck helps build confidence and self-worth, reminding folks that they can be trusted again with the responsibilities of working to provide for themselves and their families,\u201d said Congressman Rogers, a longtime champion in the fight against drug abuse. \u201cThis program is ultimately about restoring hope for families in our region, hope for recovery and hope for living an abundant, drug-free life.\u201d\n\nThe grant from the U.S. Department of Labor is for Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) and will support VOA\u2019s recovery reintegration program to help move people from active addiction, to recovery, and back into the workforce.\n\n\"We are pleased to partner with Volunteers of America for this work that is so crucial to the long-term health of our region,\u201d said EKU President, Dr. David McFaddin. \u201cRecovery mixed with job opportunity gives people a present and future blueprint to success.\u2019\u2019\n\nOver the grant\u2019s three-year term, VOA expects to serve nearly 350 people whose challenges with substance use disorder have kept them from meaningful work.\n\n\u201cWhen people recovering from addiction are ready to return to work, they are often at a loss for how to step back into the working world,\u201c said President Stivers. \u201cThe VOA and WORC partnership provides them the guidance and resources they need to be gainfully employed again. It\u2019s a wonderful partnership.\u201d\n\nVolunteers of America team member Sue Fox attended VOA\u2019s Recovery Community Center and has worked both at the RCC and VOA\u2019s Freedom house program. Fox said her experience shows that people can overcome years lost to substance use and can return to the workforce as healthy contributors to their communities.\n\n\u201cThis is the message and the work that so many people of different ages and backgrounds need,\u201d Fox said. \u201cThat is my story \u2013 I am not alone.\u201d\n\nAbout Volunteers of America:\n\nVolunteers of America Mid-States operates more than 40 programs across Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Clark and Floyd Counties in Indiana. VOA serves families overcoming homelessness, veterans in need of housing and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and many other individuals and families in need. Learn more at @voamid and www.voamid.org.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4297A267-3E1E-4C68-BEC7-D2FFC98CE74A", "McConnell Helps Secure $40 Million in Annual Funding for Kentucky Airports Over Five Years", "2021-12-16", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will distribute $40 million annually to fifty-one Kentucky airports over the next five years. These funds are made available through the Airport Infrastructure Grants program, which was established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earlier this year.\n\nSenator McConnell supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and helped it pass the Senate this year. In total, the bipartisan bill allocated $25 billion to our nation\u2019s airports, more of which will be distributed to Kentucky in the coming months. The funding announced today was allocated through a formula described in the legislation.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s airports don\u2019t just connect our citizens to the rest of the country and the world; they also form a critical part of America\u2019s supply chain. It is more important than ever that our airports have the funds needed to operate effectively,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cI supported the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earlier this year because of programs like this, which will help overhaul Kentucky\u2019s transportation systems and revive our decaying roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, and river ports. This is just the kind of program Kentucky needs to compete in the 21st-century global economy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe appreciate the support of Senator McConnell for the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport,\u201d said Dan Mann, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. \u201cThis funding will go a long way in supporting the continued improvements at SDF including our $400 million terminal modernization program and on-going sustainability initiatives such as our geothermal project to reduce our carbon footprint. These improvements allow us to provide a better, more accessible experience for the traveling public and support the needs of our airline partners while maintaining SDF as a crucial link in the nation\u2019s aerospace system.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am grateful for the hard work of Leader McConnell and many in Washington over these last several months to get the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act across the finish line. CVG will put more than $13 million per year to good use to lead the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati region\u2019s economy out of the pandemic, focusing on capital investments that will support good-paying jobs and improved passenger services,\u201d said Candace McGraw, CEO of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=515E8CB4-DE74-4F36-ACFB-2235A323E76F", "Americans\u2019 Christmas Wish: Stop the Reckless, Inflationary Far-Left Spending", "2021-12-16", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cTwo in three Americans want the federal government to \u2018cut back on spending and printing money.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut our Democratic colleagues spent the last several months trying as hard as possible to do the opposite.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats have spent months trying to borrow, print, and spend trillions more dollars, right into the teeth of the worst inflation in almost 40 years.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve sought to turn their monthly welfare entitlement with no work requirements from a temporary COVID measure into a permanent policy. Cash welfare with no work requirements, forever.\n\n\u201c76 percent of Americans say these handouts haven\u2019t helped their families at all, yet Democrats want to dump in many billions more.\n\n\u201cJust step back and look at all the ways their left-wing wish list could hurt a young family in middle America.\n\n\u201cFirst, they\u2019d need to cross their fingers that the private or employer-sponsored insurance they chose to meet their family\u2019s specific needs isn\u2019t shoved off a cliff in Democrats\u2019 latest lurch toward more socialized medicine.\n\n\u201cAnd they\u2019ll have to hope their war on the medical innovation sector doesn\u2019t prevent the development of lifesaving cures their family might have relied on some years down the road.\n\n\u201cSay the family\u2019s got one or two young kids. Maybe their ideal arrangement is church-based daycare. They\u2019d need to say a prayer their faith-based center isn\u2019t sued and chased out of business thanks to Washington Democrats\u2019 toddler takeover.\n\n\u201cTheir plan would give nothing to full-time parents, grandparent caregivers, nanny-shares, or neighborhood co-ops. It would push faith-based providers out of the public square by design. And it could inflate daycare costs by about $12,000 or $13,000 per child per year.\n\n\u201cIf Democrats get their way, let\u2019s hope neither parent is one of the many Americans who work in our domestic energy sector. Our colleagues\u2019 bill has a huge pile of new red tape aimed at putting their industry out of business. But no matter where they work, they\u2019ll face inflated prices to heat their homes and fill up at the gas pump.\n\n\u201cFor all these bad ideas and many more, our colleagues wanted to spend trillions upon trillions more dollars right into the teeth of runaway inflation they have already caused.\n\n\u201cYesterday, we got indications the far left\u2019s slapdash sprint may be hitting the pause button.\n\n\u201cThat would be great news for the American people.\n\n\u201cThe best Christmas gift Washington could give working families would be putting this bad bill on ice.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E2180E9A-3CEC-442A-A810-1089BBD7D963", "Denied $4.9T Spending Spree, Democrats Call for Breaking the Senate and Packing the Court", "2021-12-16", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding governing institutions:\n\n\u201cAs cracks keep forming in the Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree, some of our colleagues seemed to channel their frustration into even more radical attempts to attack our governing institutions.\n\n\u201cIn the span of a few hours, one Senate Democrat had renewed calls to \u2018nuke\u2019 the Senate and break the rules, and another published a national op-ed arguing that Democrats should attack the rule of law and pack the Supreme Court.\n\n\u201cTwo frontal assaults on two branches of government, proposed in the space of about two hours!\n\n\u201cEntire generations of statesmen would have seen either one of those unhinged proposals as Armageddon for our institutions. Apparently, today\u2019s Democrats try both at once and just call it Wednesday!\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve heard false claims that the Senate obeying our rules to address the debt limit somehow paves the way for radicals to break the rules.\n\n\u201cAnd Madam President, I\u2019d ask consent that an additional statement on that subject appear at a different place in the record.\n\n\u201cSo, look \u2014 we have discussed over and over again why Democrats will not be allowed to federalize our elections and lord over all 50 states like a self-appointed board of elections on steroids.\n\n\u201cMy colleagues across the aisle have pushed absurd bills that would do things like neuter Voter I.D. laws\u2026 make every state legalize ballot harvesting\u2026 turn the Federal Election Commission into a biased, partisan body\u2026 and even send taxpayer money to political campaigns.\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t about quote-unquote \u2018voting rights.\u2019 It\u2019s a naked power grab.\n\n\u201cDemocrats have been pushing the same kinds of bills for years, even as their stated justifications have changed wildly. When Republicans win elections or start polling well, Democrats and the media say our democracy badly broken, on death\u2019s door and needs a radical overhaul. The answers presented are these policies.\n\n\u201cWhen Democrats win elections, Democrats and the media say our democracy is sterling, beyond reproach, and just needs some modest safeguards to protect the status quo. But again, the answers presented are these policies.\n\n\u201cLately, their pretext has been demagogic attacks on reasonable state voting laws and proposals. If any state scraps any of the temporary pandemic procedures that Democrat operatives favor, the radical left says the sky is falling.\n\n\u201cBut outside the liberal bubble, nobody buys this nonsense. The country is not buying the hysteria. On Election Day last month, even in deep blue New York, voters rejected liberal ballot measures that would have liberalized no-excuse absentee voting and loosened up the rules on voter registration.\n\n\u201cNot even blue New York wants these policies to weaken their elections. But some Democrats want to break the Senate and trash its rules to force these sorts of things on all 50 states?\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s beyond absurd.\n\n\u201cI understand my colleagues are frustrated they may not get to spend $4.9 trillion on their way out the door for Christmas. But believe me, lashing out at our democracy, at the Supreme Court, and at the Senate itself is not going to solve anything.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F1A27B4D-CE25-4F0D-AA23-05BECBA22B13", "McConnell Updates Senate on Kentucky Tornado Recovery", "2021-12-16", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the tornadoes in Western Kentucky:\n\n\u201cWestern Kentucky is still reeling from last weekend\u2019s devastating storm. But support is rolling in from around the Commonwealth, our region, and the country.\n\n\u201cYesterday I spoke with the CEO of LifePoint Health. They operate ten hospitals in Kentucky including one in hard-hit Mayfield.\n\n\u201cMiraculously, their Jackson Purchase Medical Center survived the tornado mostly intact. Now, it is offering much-needed medical services.\n\n\u201cNurses and doctors have worked day and night.\n\n\u201cLifePoint Health shipped water tankers to their facility to bolster local supply. And the company has pledged $1 million to help Kentucky rebuild.\n\n\u201cAcross our region, individuals and companies are opening their hearts, homes, and wallets to help.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve received important assistance from here in Washington as well.\n\n\u201cYesterday, the President announced the federal government will fund the entire cost of debris removal and emergency protective measures in the eight counties hardest hit by this storm for the next month. Local officials won\u2019t need to worry about overstretched budgets. They can just focus on rebuilding.\n\n\u201cMy team and I are working hard to continue connecting Kentuckians with the resources they need.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve set up a portal on my Senate office website to help my constituents access government assistance. It has a full list of services provided by our disaster response agencies.\n\n\u201cBecause of the federal government\u2019s swift action in the past week, victims of these tornadoes can access housing assistance, legal aid, crisis counseling, and more. I recommend every impacted Kentuckian take advantage of these resources. My office is here to help you navigate.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll travel back to Kentucky tomorrow to visit several of the communities that were hit hardest and meet with local leaders who are spearheading recovery efforts.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll listen to their concerns and bring their stories back to Washington to ensure they get the help they need.\n\n\u201cThe scene on the ground in Western Kentucky is still devastating and discouraging. For far too many families, this Christmas will be tragically abnormal.\n\n\u201cBut we will continue to work together to provide Kentucky with the resources it needs to recover, bigger and better than before.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=93BB222F-ECB1-4F41-A155-CE0EB8C2783B", "Barr, Sherman, Spartz Introduce Bill to Pressure China, Allow U.S. Oversight of Audits", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), the ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy, along with Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection and Capital Markets, and Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN) introduced the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act \u2013legislation that would increase accountability for the auditors of U.S.-listed foreign companies currently not subject to oversight by U.S. regulators.\n\nIn 2020, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which prohibits the shares of foreign companies from continuing to be listed on U.S. exchanges if a company\u2019s auditor is not overseen by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) for three years in a row. For over a decade, Chinese authorities have effectively blocked the PCAOB from conducting effective oversight of audit firms based in China and Hong Kong. However, these audit firms currently serve as the primary auditor for 191 companies publicly traded in the U.S. with a combined global market capitalization of $1.9 trillion.\n\nThe Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act would put additional pressure on China by requiring foreign auditors to allow PCAOB inspections or risk publicly traded companies being de-listed from U.S. exchanges if inspections do not happen after two consecutive years rather than three. This legislation serves as a House companion to S.2184, a bill introduced by Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) which passed the Senate on June 22, 2021.\n\n\u201cThis bill builds off of the bipartisan Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act to protect investors, ensure the integrity of financial statements and create a level playing field for issuers on U.S. exchanges,\u201d said Congressman Barr, Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy. \u201cI am pleased to join Reps. Sherman and Spartz in this effort to hold China accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act may be the most significant piece of investor protection legislation passed in several years,\u201d said Congressman Sherman. \u201cIt is designed to assure Financial Statement integrity of 191 U.S.-listed companies with over $1.9 trillion in market capitalization. The purpose is not to de-list any company, but to persuade China to allow the audit oversight that U.S. investors need, and the U.S. investors get when investing in all U.S. companies as well as companies in over 50 foreign jurisdictions.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs someone who spent over a decade in public accounting and auditing, I understand and value the importance of investor protection and proper quality control of audits. It\u2019s our responsibility to protect the public, and I am happy to co-lead a bipartisan, bicameral initiative to start leveling the playing field and increase accountability for Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges,\u201d said Congresswoman Spartz.\n\nText of the legislation is available here.\n\n###\n\nAccelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=353D34F5-14E6-486E-81AF-7B385CA504F1", "Congressman Rogers Votes Against Debt Limit Increase", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- Washington Democrats voted to raise the nation's debt limit by $2.5 trillion to cover their irresponsible spending spree this year. U.S. Rep. Harold \"Hal\" Rogers (KY-05) voted against the legislation which will likely lead the nation to again reach the debt limit in 2023.\n\n\"My liberal colleagues are relentless in their pursuit to make the United States more indebted to China every day,\" said Congressman Rogers, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. \"With Democrats in control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, we've experienced one crisis after another, including skyrocketing inflation, mass supply chain interruptions, record numbers of illegal immigrants flooding across the southern border, and historic spending. Washington Democrats are bypassing checks and balances at every turn, and increasing the debt limit without addressing spending is another step in the wrong direction. Taxpayers need fiscally responsible leaders on Capitol Hill, not a higher borrowing capacity.\"\n\nThe debt limit increase passed just as Washington Democrats are on the brink of adding a multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill without any regard for the nation's deficit or debt.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=521CBC38-BA20-4E47-A64B-0BFB69199433", "Senate Passes McConnell\u2019s NDAA Amendment to Support Democracy in Burma", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led the U.S. Senate to include his bipartisan Burma amendment in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the Senate and will now be sent to the president for his signature.\n\nSenator McConnell secured important provisions in this bipartisan amendment, which requires senior Administration officials to present to Congress within sixty days a strategy to impose costs on the military junta, legitimize representative organizations like the National Unity Government, restore democratic governance, and foster national reconciliation. The amendment was cosponsored by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senator Todd Young (R-IN), Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).\n\n\u201cEarlier this year, Burma\u2019s illegitimate, unelected military junta launched a coup against the country\u2019s democratically-elected government. I strongly condemn these actions, as well as the indiscriminate violence they continue to commit against civilians and the show trials they have launched against their political opposition. To address this crisis, I led a bipartisan effort to reaffirm American support for democracy in Burma through the NDAA process. I\u2019m proud my amendment was included in the final NDAA bill that passed the Senate earlier today,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cRestoring Burma\u2019s democratic development will require the United States to pursue a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to keep meaningful pressure on the junta and secure international recognition for Burma\u2019s true, democratically-elected government. This amendment will ensure our Administration articulates and then advances a real strategy to hold the regime accountable and support democratic actors like the National Unity Government.\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator McConnell has listened closely to our community and stood alongside us every step of the way as we work to restore democracy in Burma. This amendment is just the latest among a long list of actions Senator McConnell has taken to help Burma\u2019s people,\u201d said Jimmy Nyunt, a pro-democracy advocate from Burma who lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky. \u201cThe people of Burma have no greater advocate in Washington than Senator McConnell.\u201d\n\nThis bipartisan amendment requires senior officials from the State Department, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Treasury Department, and Defense Department to personally appear before Congress to provide a briefing on specific U.S. policy and security objectives in Burma, including:\n\n\u2022 An assessment of the impact of existing U.S. and international sanctions on Burma, as well as possible additional sanctions.\n\n\u2022 Efforts to support Burma\u2019s National Unity Government and other democratic actors such as the Civil Disobedience Movement, while denying legitimacy to the country\u2019s military junta.\n\n\u2022 Key objectives, including the restoration of democracy in Burma, the establishment of an inclusive and representative civilian government, the creation of a reformed military reflecting the diversity of the country and under civilian control, and the enactment of constitutional, political, and economic reforms.\n\n\u2022 Accountability for atrocities and human rights violations in Burma, genuine national reconciliation among the country\u2019s ethnic groups, and the release of political prisoners.\n\n\u2022 A review of China and Russia\u2019s strategic interests in Burma and any actions taken by these countries to support the junta, promote ethnic conflict, or undermine Burma\u2019s sovereignty.\n\nSenator McConnell has a long record of support for Burma\u2019s democracy. Over several decades, he has led multiple efforts to sanction the country\u2019s military junta and worked closely with Burma\u2019s pro-democracy advocates, particularly Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to support the people of Burma.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=58A130D8-507D-419C-B690-0691648309AD", "Democrats\u2019 Reckless Spree: Steep Costs, and Bad Policy, Too", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cI described yesterday how inflation is hurting families across the country.\n\n\u201cSince then, yet another key economic indicator has set an unfortunate record: In the last year, wholesale prices grew at their fastest pace on record.\n\n\u201cAnyone with a shred of sense knows this is the absolute wrong time to unleash a multi-trillion-dollar taxing and spending spree. Every single day brings new evidence our Democratic colleagues should give the country a break.\n\n\u201cBut the cost of Washington Democrats\u2019 latest obsession isn\u2019t the only problem. The content of what they want to pass is just as bad.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve known since the start of the COVID pandemic that Democrats saw it as an opportunity to transform American society. They\u2019ve said so in public.\n\n\u201cAnd the reckless taxing and spending spree they\u2019re writing behind closed doors is a Trojan horse to let the radical left dictate intimate details to American families.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a long list of policies inspired by the authors of the Green New Deal. A whole slew of new programs and mandates aimed at fitting the entire country\u2019s systems for producing and consuming energy into a California-shaped box.\n\n\u201cSpecial subsidies for expensive lifestyle choices like electric vehicles and electric bicycles.\n\n\u201cNew red tape to strangle the most reliable and affordable sources of American energy.\n\n\u201cSubsidies for supply chains that China dominates, so America borrows in order to Build Back Beijing.\n\n\u201cAnd don\u2019t forget the so-called \u2018Civilian Climate Corps.\u2019 Just what we need at a time of inflation and labor shortages \u2014 a Potemkin make-work program for liberal activists.\n\n\u201cOf course, Washington Democrats intend to grab greater control over the development of America\u2019s young people long before they\u2019re eligible for made-up green jobs.\n\n\u201cTheir spree contains a massive \u2018Toddler Takeover\u2019 that insults the diversity of American families and their aspirations. It only throws money at a subset of secular childcare centers that woke bureaucrats favor.\n\n\u201cForget faith-based options. Forget flexible, part-time arrangements. Forget being remotely fair to families with a parent at home. Democrats want to bring their inflation into childcare and make daycare more expensive, more inflexible, and more unfair.\n\n\u201cAnd then there\u2019s the latest offensive in a long campaign to restrict more of Americans\u2019 healthcare choices. Democrats\u2019 plan would mean more one-size-fits-all programs, more government control, a wet blanket over the world-leading innovation pipeline that creates new cures, and a further gamble with seniors\u2019 Medicare when the trust fund is already in danger of insolvency.\n\n***\n\n\u201cThen there are the massive tax hikes our colleagues want to use to cover the bill.\n\n\u201cAll those radical changes, all those Big Government intrusions into family life, come paired with crushing tax hikes that would hit our country like a ton of bricks.\n\n\u201cThere are new surcharges on individual taxpayers. There are tax hikes for pass-through businesses. There\u2019s a brand-new radical scheme to make American industries less competitive that Senate Democrats scribbled down with no hearings or committee process.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden promised he wouldn\u2019t raise taxes one penny on anybody making less than $400,000. But experts agree that Democrats\u2019 tax hikes would break that promise. People with far less income would be affected.\n\n\u201cFor goodness\u2019 sake, in 2022, their bill would give a bigger percentage tax cut to people making more than $1 million every year than to families that pull in between $75,000 and $100,000.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The average person who makes upwards of a million dollars gets a bigger tax break from Democrats\u2019 bill than the average household that makes just under six figures.\n\n\u201cIn large part, that\u2019s because of an absurdly expensive tax giveaway that Democrats want to hand out to benefit high income earners in blue states. Their \u2018SALT\u2019 policy would make the federal government subsidize the property tax bills of people with mansions who choose to live in high-tax states.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s an insane proposition, and it\u2019s struggling to even earn support from Democrats\u2019 rank-and-file. But their leaders from New York and California are obsessed with it. Go figure.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBut SALT is only just the beginning of the gravy train this bill steers toward Democrats\u2019 pet projects and causes.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s also a tax-code tweak that would create a special deduction for union dues while letting one for charitable contributions expire.\n\n\u201cAnother special incentive \u2013 to the tune of $10 billion \u2013 would help liberal colleges and universities indoctrinate students in new \u2018environmental justice\u2019 programs.\n\n\u201cStill others would pour $29 billion into funding a \u2018National Green Bank\u2019\u2026 $2.5 billion into increasing \u2018tree equity\u2019\u2026 $1.67 billion to bail out news outlets\u2026and an extra billion on top for \u2018improving climate resilience\u2019 of Pacific salmon.\n\n\u201cAnd then, of course, there are the extra special ways Democrats want to use this bill to fulfill more personal, hometown priorities.\n\n\u201cSpeaker Pelosi didn\u2019t end up getting to earmark millions of federal dollars for redeveloping a park in her district.\n\n\u201cBut she did secure one Congressman\u2019s vote by upping the funding for a defunct regional commission that largely benefits his district by 13,000%.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s old-school vote buying, Mr. President. A slap in the face to taxpayers.\n\n\u201cOur own colleague, the Democratic Leader, has pledged to \u2018use all of [his] power\u2019 to personally steer tens of billions of dollars toward a hometown New York City housing authority with a long and storied reputation of corruption, mismanagement, and scandal.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to wrap your head around, Mr. President. That is, unless you subscribe to Washington Democrats\u2019 apparent core principle: when the American people are footing the bill, the menu is all-you-can-spend.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=6636AA03-D7B8-40DD-8B7D-709528296721", "Bipartisan Defense Legislation Will Bolster Kentucky and the Country", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cToday, the Senate will pass this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act by a big, bipartisan margin.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve talked for weeks about the importance of this legislation given the global threats and international challenges that face our nation \u2014 from China to Russia to the fight against terrorists in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cBut I will also be proud to vote for this bill because of the enormous impact it will have on my home state.\n\n\u201cThe proud servicemembers based in Kentucky play an outsized role in our national defense.\n\n\u201cFrom deploying across the world, to fighting COVID-19 here at home, they do amazing work to keep America safe. In the past week, they have stepped up to provide critical support as Kentucky deals with the aftermath of devastating tornadoes.\n\n\u201cOur Commonwealth\u2019s heroes and their families deserve our full support and I am proud that this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act delivers for them.\n\n\u201cNearly $1 billion for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program that supports the chemical munitions destruction mission at the Blue Grass Army Depot. Robust funding to deter Russia in Europe, the mission of Fort Knox\u2019s Fifth Corps Headquarters.\n\n\u201cContinued investments in research and modernization that will guarantee our soldiers, including those at Fort Campbell, are prepared to counter emerging threats like China.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve also built on our previous efforts to lift up Kentucky\u2019s military families. The bill provides additional funding for modern, high-quality child care facilities, including $27 million for a new child care development center at Fort Knox. It authorizes an across-the-board 2.7% pay raise for our troops.\n\n\u201cThis bill is critically important to the servicemembers who make immense sacrifices to keep our nation safe. I am proud to support it and help cement the Commonwealth\u2019s role as America\u2019s most military-friendly state.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=90E740AC-8DFC-4BDC-B1D8-64D6D4ABA7E9", "Amid Devastation and Grief, Kentuckians Lighting Beacons of Hope", "2021-12-15", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the tornadoes in Western Kentucky:\n\n\u201cIn the aftermath of Western Kentucky\u2019s devastating tornado outbreak, I\u2019ve maintained close contact with state and local officials. My staff has been on the ground since the outset of this crisis, helping residents access federal resources and keeping me up-to-date with any developments.\n\n\u201cToward the end of the week, I will travel back to Kentucky to meet with my constituents and visit the areas affected.\n\n\u201cThe stories coming out of Kentucky are harrowing. But in recent days, we\u2019ve also heard about the generosity, hard work, and hope that are helping our state recover.\n\n\u201cKentuckians desperately need help to rebuild. So our universities, normally bitter rivals on the court, are rallying together to raise money and gather supplies for relief efforts.\n\n\u201cThis Christmas is shaping up to be exceptionally difficult for children across Western Kentucky. So churches are organizing toy drives to help make the holidays a little bit brighter.\n\n\u201cWestern Kentucky community organizations are stretched to the limit. So businesses based in the Commonwealth, from distilleries, to car manufacturers, to insurance companies, have stepped up to donate millions.\n\n\u201cRemarkable stories of survival and resiliency have trickled out of the disaster zone.\n\n\u201cLast weekend\u2019s storm destroyed much of First Christian Church in Mayfield, Kentucky. But the congregation discovered their communion table and altar cross fully intact while picking through the rubble. A symbol of hope and rebirth survived amid so much pain.\n\n\u201cAcross town, the Mayfield Health and Rehabilitation nursing home was physically devastated when it took a direct hit from the tornado on Friday night. But all seventy-four of the facility\u2019s elderly residents survived with only minor injuries. As one staff member said, it was \u2018truly a miracle.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd in Bremen, Kentucky, when a man visited the wreckage of his home on Saturday, he discovered his grand piano mostly undamaged despite the storm. Amid the surrounding devastation, he sat down to play and sing hymns. His songs, shared on social media, warmed the hearts of thousands.\n\n\u201cThese stories of hope have ricocheted across the Commonwealth, bringing smiles and strength to the communities that need them most. And they give me faith that Kentucky will recover from this crisis, stronger than ever.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=1C4583DB-5644-4218-9553-D8DA4E511438", "Barr, Hill, Huizenga, and Loudermilk Call on Gensler to Rescind Recent Guidance", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, DC \u2013 Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06), Rep. French Hill (AR-02), Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) today sent a letter to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler urging the SEC to rescind recent staff guidance on shareholder proposals submitted to publicly traded companies.\n\nFollowing the SEC\u2019s decision to rescind Staff Legal Bulletins (SLB) Nos. 14I, 14J, and 14K, and replace them with SLB 14L, the members expressed their concern that the new SLB falls outside of the Commission\u2019s statutory authority, writing, \u201cThis is yet another example of the Commission pushing a progressive agenda on the shareholder process\u2026 The unelected staff of the SEC should not be the arbiters of social policy in our financial markets. The SEC has neither the statutory authority nor the expertise to make determinations about the issues of broad societal impact.\u201d\n\nReps. Barr, Hill, Huizenga and Loudermilk continued, \u201cAnother major flaw in this SLB is that it provides no objective process for how SEC staff will evaluate if a proposal is or is not socially significant\u2026 This opaque process will give staff enormous power to force companies to engage on social issues that have nothing to do with their business.\u201d\n\nThe members concluded, \u201cWe call on the SEC\u2019s Division of Corporation Finance to immediately rescind SLB 14L and reinstate SLB Nos. 14I, 14J, and 14K. It is inappropriate for the SEC to use staff guidance to go around the statutory rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedures Act while making major changes to the shareholder proposal process.\u201d\n\nTo read the full letter, click here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=53C82B79-54F2-4B7C-9DC8-06659FAA294B", "Barr Votes Against Partisan Debt Ceiling Legislation", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2013 U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) released the following statement after the United States House of Representatives voted to raise the debt ceiling:\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 partisan efforts in the House to raise the debt ceiling epitomizes their misplaced belief that somehow we can tax, spend and borrow our way to prosperity. The truth of the matter is that when we raise the debt ceiling without reform, we make way for new spending that, in turn, not only threatens to bankrupt America but fuels the out-of-control inflation that has been ravaging poor and middle-class families for the entirety of this Administration\u2019s tenure.\n\nThe Congressional Budget Office only just recently confirmed what Republicans have been saying all along: Biden\u2019s Build Back Broke agenda, with its gimmicks removed, doesn\u2019t cost zero dollars as advertised. In fact, the CBO estimates BBB would introduce nearly $5 trillion in new spending in the long run which Democrats will happily dump into the lap of every American taxpayer and at the feet of our future generations.\n\nI proudly voted against this reckless measure that would add an astounding $2.5 trillion more to the national debt. Rest assured, I will continue to fight alongside my Republican colleagues against the Democrat effort to bankrupt America at the expense of the most vulnerable among us.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=DA6CBAB1-8B43-4CE2-9FC5-5F5C59F75D33", "U.S. House Holds Moment of Silence for Kentucky Tornado Victims", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday night, U.S. Rep. Harold \"Hal\" Rogers joined his colleagues from Kentucky on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for a moment of silence in memory of tornado victims in Kentucky and surrounding states who were impacted by deadly storms on December 10 and 11.\n\n\"In this moment of silence, I pray for God's divine peace and comfort to be with every family in Western Kentucky and those in neighboring states who tragically lost a loved one during severe storms over the weekend. May the Lord, strengthen search and rescue teams, first responders and our National Guard as they continue their heroic efforts. In the midst of storms of this magnitude, there are always unsung heroes and although we may never know every detail, we salute each person who risked their own life to save another,\" said Congressman Rogers, Dean of Kentucky's Congressional Delegation. \"The people of Eastern Kentucky know all too well, the pain and heartache of unexpected deadly storms, but we also know the blessing of compassion and hope that floods in during recovery efforts. As donation drives and volunteer crews begin to help our friends in Western Kentucky, it is my prayer that hope shines across this Commonwealth.\"\n\n\"I was proud to join Kentucky's congressional delegation in support of the Governor's federal request for emergency assistance and I stand ready help our neighbors in the days ahead,\" Rogers continued.\n\nOn Sunday, President Biden approved Governor Beshear's request for an expedited major disaster declaration, with full support from Kentucky's Congressional delegation. Congressman Rogers applauds the rapid federal response, including FEMA teams that have already deployed to Kentucky.\n\nClick here to watch as Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hold a moment of silence in memory of Kentucky tornado victims.\n\nDecember 14, 2021 - U.S. House held a moment of silence in memory of Kentucky tornado victims\n\nU.S. House Members from Kentucky led a moment of silence for Kentucky tornado victims", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4DC9A980-7CE3-4DCB-8E21-077A44AF0314", "McConnell Continues to Work with Local, Federal Agencies to Provide Kentucky Tornado Relief", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the tornadoes in Western Kentucky:\n\n\u201cKentucky is working to recover from the deadly storms and tornadoes. Each day brings new challenges.\n\n\u201cTens of thousands are still dealing with water, gas, or power outages. Families are in shock and grief over the loss of loved ones.\n\n\u201cRebuilding the areas of Kentucky leveled by this storm will take months, if not years, to complete.\n\n\u201cAmid this pain, though, bright lights of hope shine through. In the face of tragedy, Kentuckians are still as strong and as generous as we\u2019ve always been.\n\n\u201cYesterday I spoke with the Taylor County Judge-Executive. He told me that seventy families in his county had lost their homes in the storm. Emergency responders made shelters available \u2014 but folks were quickly taken in by family, friends, or neighbors.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s just the kind of people we have in Kentucky.\n\n\u201cIn Mayfield, residents are already beginning to rebuild, only days after the storm leveled full city blocks.\n\n\u201cChurches hosted Sunday services this past weekend.\n\n\u201cLocals brought their chainsaws and cleared debris from city roads. People from nearby counties and states have flooded in to help.\n\n\u201cOne man, Jimmy Finch, has struck a chord with Americans\u2019 heart across the country. He had no connections to Mayfield. He\u2019s from Clarksville, Tennessee. But after the disaster, he borrowed a big meat smoker, got into his car, made the hour-and-a-half journey in the dead of night, and started serving up food the next morning.\n\n\u201cOn Sunday morning, for hours, he fed chicken, hot links, and burgers to hungry residents who had been without heat or power for days.\n\n\u201cWestern Kentucky\u2019s radio and TV stations have kept operating throughout this crisis delivering vital information even amid roving power outages. State parks opened their doors to residents who lost their homes. Businesses, individuals, and charities have been generous with food, water, and shelter.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s first responders are working hand-in-hand with FEMA to provide coordinated relief. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and law enforcement officers are working through the night.\n\n\u201cUtility workers are making a herculean effort to restore power and water. Hundreds of Kentucky National Guardsmen have deployed to Western Kentucky to assist.\n\n\u201cAnd at Fort Campbell, the federal government has provided a critical lifeline of support: sixty-one generators, 74,000 meals, 135,000 liters of water, thousands of cots and blankets.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m in close contact with Governor Beshear, our federal agencies, and local leaders. My staff and I have been in frequent touch with the White House.\n\n\u201cKentucky will come back from this bigger and better than ever before. I will make sure the Senate provides all the assistance we can to make that a reality.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BFC3754C-5797-465F-A4EA-9CFE4E298C9E", "Biden Administration\u2019s Mistakes Raise the Stakes for 2021 Defense Bill", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cFor months, while our colleagues have been writing their reckless taxing and spending spree behind closed doors, the Democratic majority let the National Defense Authorization Act sit in limbo.\n\n\u201cThis week, four and a half months after it was cleared by the Armed Services Committee, the Senate should finally finish this legislation.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, those who mean America harm haven\u2019t been waiting around for us to act. Threats to our national security are grave and getting graver.\n\n\u201cSince the Biden Administration\u2019s disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, according to our top commander in the region, the U.S. military has but a small fraction of the actionable intelligence they had before the coalition withdrew.\n\n\u201cBut the predictable, avoidable resurgence of terrorist networks has continued apace.\n\n\u201cWe also know that more Americans citizens and permanent residents remain stranded under Taliban rule than the Biden Administration admitted.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the threat of further Russian aggression toward Ukraine is testing whether this White House and our allies in Europe will avoid misguided half-measures to deter and defend against grave and growing threats.\n\n\u201cSo, at the risk of stating the obvious: the United States needs to follow through with promises of urgent, substantive assistance to Ukraine and encourage other NATO allies to do the same. This should not be controversial. Only in the warped world of Kremlin propaganda is giving Ukraine the means to defend itself considered provocative.\n\n\u201cThese real threats to national security, and others too numerous to name, should serve as a reminder of the need for America to lead by example and commit to modernizing our own military capabilities. Which in turn means taking the NDAA seriously.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m glad that the Senate is finally set to vote on this crucial legislation. While the process has been imperfect, I\u2019m glad that bipartisan work has produced a bill that authorizes an increase in topline funding for our national defense.\n\n\u201cAfter months of delays, our colleagues have an opportunity to begin showing that America is serious about keeping pace with adversaries like Russia, who have spent decades modernizing their militaries with a singular focus on countering our military advantage.\n\n\u201cWe have an opportunity to pay more than just lip service to competition with China.\n\n\u201cWe have an opportunity to lay a foundation that we ought to follow through with robust and full-year defense appropriations.\n\n\u201cI encourage Senators to advance the legislation today.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E2AF432A-7D8E-4C60-BAE7-4302DD0B02A1", "The Worst Inflation in Four Decades", "2021-12-14", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats\u2019 printing, borrowing, and spending addiction is directly hurting American families.\n\n\u201cTwo thirds of the American people \u2014 a supermajority \u2014 are worried about inflation.\n\n\u201cAbout half the middle class and 70 percent of low-income families say soaring prices have personally hurt their household.\n\n\u201cAnd it isn\u2019t getting better, like the Biden Administration promised it would. It\u2019s getting worse.\n\n\u201cLast Friday, the Labor Department released a jaw-dropping report: The Consumer Price Index has shot up 6.8% over the past year. Six point eight percent inflation. The worst inflation in almost 40 years.\n\n\u201cNow, it\u2019s true that the average American worker has gotten pay increase since 2020. But rising prices have more than wiped that out.\n\n\u201cWe have a remarkable situation where American workers are earning raises, but their bigger paychecks buy their families even less than what their smaller paychecks bought before the Democrats took power.\n\n\u201cThe net effect is a nearly 2% pay cut for the average American.\n\n\u201cOur citizens know what\u2019s happening. 67% of the country says Washington needs to \u2018cut back on spending and printing money.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut here in Washington, leading Democrats want to plow ahead and double down on the reckless taxing and spending that got us here.\n\n\u201cThey want to respond to this stunning inflation report by printing, borrowing, and spending trillions upon trillions more on new entitlements and far-left programs.\n\n\u201cAnd if that weren\u2019t bad enough, on Friday, a new report showed their socialist shopping spree could cost the country trillions more than Democrats admit.\n\n\u201cYou see, as one of our Democratic colleagues explained last month, his party\u2019s bill is packed full of \u2018shell games\u2019 and \u2018budget gimmicks.\u2019\n\n\u201cFor example, their bill pretends that major new entitlements would simply expire after a few years.\n\n\u201cOf course, that never happens. As a wise man once said, \u2018nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.\u2019 And Democrats aren\u2019t even pretending they think the spending would stop. They\u2019re boasting about a permanent transformation.\n\n\u201cThe fake expiration dates are just an accounting trick so the price tag looks artificially low.\n\n\u201cAnd last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office announced that if we acknowledge the permanent entitlements would be permanent, their bill would actually cost $4.9 trillion in the first decade alone.\n\n\u201cIt would explode the deficit by $3 trillion in that time.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are trying to reassure their alarmed members that they\u2019d find new ways to offset future extensions.\n\n\u201cBut think about it.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve just spent months shoving every possible pay-for into this existing bill. They already burned through huge, permanent tax hikes just to partially offset the bill with the gimmicks!\n\n\u201cExtending these programs further would either explode our national debt\u2026 or it would take even further trillions in even further gigantic tax hikes that Democrats will not specify.\n\n\u201cSo which is it? Historic deficits or trillions more in secret tax hikes? The right answer for the country is neither.\n\n\u201cLater today, every Senate Democrat is going to vote on party lines to raise our nation\u2019s debt limit by trillions of dollars.\n\n\u201cIf they jam through another reckless taxing and spending spree, this massive debt increase will just be the beginning.\n\n\u201cMore printing and borrowing. To set up more reckless spending. To cause more inflation. To hurt working families even more. The American people need a break.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3EA711E4-1F01-4491-97E8-40E7721F73E4", "McConnell on Devastating Kentucky Tornado Damage", "2021-12-13", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the tornadoes in Western Kentucky:\n\n\u201cThe tornadoes that hit Kentucky this past weekend were some of the most widespread, severe, and devastating in our state\u2019s history.\n\n\u201cIt is still difficult to comprehend the vast scope of this storm. Nearly forty tornadoes touched down across six states. One tornado in Kentucky stayed on the ground for over 200 miles. This was potentially the longest continuous path of any tornado in U.S. history.\n\n\u201cTowns have been reduced to rubble. Families are picking up pieces of their shattered lives. Most tragically, our Governor announced today that more than 60 Kentuckians are confirmed to have lost their lives. Many more remain unaccounted for.\n\n\u201cThis is the worst storm to hit Kentucky in my lifetime. The tornadoes caused considerable damage in fifteen counties across the Commonwealth. Thousands lost their homes. Tens of thousands are still without power.\n\n\u201cThis was, in the words of one meteorologist, \u2018the worst-case scenario\u2019 for destruction. And it came during the Christmas season. Families are supposed to be gathering soon for rest, relaxation, and reunion. Now so many Kentuckians are facing just the opposite.\n\n***\n\n\u201cThe whole country is becoming acquainted with Mayfield, Kentucky, likely our hardest-hit city.\n\n\u201cMayfield is a town of ten thousand in the Jackson Purchase. It\u2019s been known for the beautiful Greek-revival fa\u00e7ade of the Mayfield First United Methodist Church.\n\n\u201cNow First United is completely gone and the town is leveled to the ground.\n\n\u201cMayfield\u2019s candle factory was operating in full swing this weekend to keep up with Christmas demand. It was once a mainstay of the community, employing hundreds.\n\n\u201cOn Friday night, the factory was turned into a scene of absolute horror. Many of the employees who were working that evening are feared dead. Rescue operations are ongoing. At least forty employees were rescued initially. One was saved after being trapped under five feet of rubble for hours. The devastation there is absolute.\n\n\u201cThe tornado was so powerful that it ripped twenty-seven train cars off their tracks in Earlington and scattered them across a field.\n\n\u201cA family photograph that was picked up by the storm in Dawson Springs, Kentucky was carried nearly 130 miles by the wind and discovered in Indiana.\n\n\u201cAll across Western Kentucky, residents spent their Saturday and Sunday clearing debris and collecting clothes and possessions that had been scattered. Families were left to inspect the cinder blocks where their houses once stood. The cheery lights of Christmastime have been replaced by destruction.\n\n***\n\n\u201cKentucky has been devastated. But we have not been defeated.\n\n\u201cKentuckians are resilient people. We will stay strong and unified through this crisis.\n\n\u201cI am incredibly grateful to the first responders who have been on the ground since the outset of this crisis: Kentucky National Guard, Kentucky State Police, sheriff\u2019s departments, city and local law enforcement, EMS responders, firefighters, doctors, and nurses. Quick thinking and selfless actions saved lives.\n\n\u201cHard-hit communities are receiving an outpouring of support from across the Commonwealth and the country.\n\n\u201cAmericans near and far are coming together to donate food, blood, resources, and shelter to those in need.\n\n\u201cBusinesses and individuals are helping fund relief efforts and donating to assist the storm\u2019s victims.\n\n\u201cLike many of my fellow Kentuckians, I was incredibly touched by the support offered by the University of Kentucky basketball team this weekend.\n\n\u201cWhile visiting the University of Notre Dame, they led a deeply emotional moment of silence before their game on Saturday night. The team visited the school\u2019s Grotto to light candles for storm victims and pray for recovery.\n\n\u201cWe were all praying alongside them.\n\n\u201cMadam President, Kentucky\u2019s state motto is \u2018united we stand, divided we fall.\u2019 In this time of crisis, Kentuckians are standing shoulder to shoulder. And we will not fall.\n\n\u201cAt every level of local, state, and federal government, across both parties, Kentucky\u2019s leaders have come together to coordinate and provide aid.\n\n\u201cToward the end of the week, I will travel back to Kentucky to meet with my constituents and visit the areas affected by this storm. My team has been working non-stop to ensure Kentuckians receive the help they need.\n\n\u201cI have worked closely with President Biden and Governor Beshear to ensure every federal resource possible is deployed to our state.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s congressional delegation has come together to send multiple letters to the President in support of disaster relief. In response, President Biden cut through red tape to approve our requests at an accelerated pace, providing the rapid support we need to recover.\n\n\u201cI am especially grateful for the work of DHS Secretary Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Criswell, who visited Kentucky yesterday to survey damage and help relief efforts.\n\n\u201cFEMA has already sent two incident management teams, an urban search and rescue team, and an Army Corp temporary power team.\n\n\u201cThey have turned Kentucky\u2019s Fort Campbell into a staging ground for vital relief and supplies.\n\n\u201cI could not be more thankful for their swift and decisive response to this crisis.\n\n\u201cEven in the face of such tragedy, we can be confident that Kentucky will bounce back.\n\n\u201cWe are strong, and we are united.\n\n\u201cWe will come back bigger and better than ever before.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=C24EFAD5-4D5E-4CDF-959C-58CF60085E09", "Kentucky Congressional Delegation Supports Governor\u2019s Request for Disaster Declaration", "2021-12-11", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Kentucky's federal delegation, including U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul, and Representatives Hal Rogers (KY-05), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Andy Barr (KY-06), Thomas Massie (KY-04), and James Comer (KY-01) sent a joint letter today to President Joe Biden expressing their support for Governor Andy Beshear's request for a disaster declaration for the Commonwealth of Kentucky regarding the overnight tornadoes and severe weather.\n\n\u201cWe write to draw your attention to the December 11, 2021 letter from Governor Andy Beshear requesting a disaster declaration for the Commonwealth of Kentucky due to the severe weather events\u2026We strongly support this request and ask for your timely consideration,\u201d the delegation stated in their letter to the President. \u201cUnfortunately, at least 50 deaths have been reported across multiple counties in the Commonwealth as a result of these tornadoes. The Kentucky National Guard and Kentucky State Police have been mobilized to provide support to Kentuckians, but emergency response has also been hampered by the storm damage.\u201d\n\nInitial reports indicate that this was the longest tornado touchdown in the Commonwealth\u2019s history. The tornadoes have caused significant destruction of property, dangerous road conditions, significant vegetative debris, power outages for thousands of Kentuckians, and severe impacts to transportation and infrastructure.\n\nA federal disaster declaration would release funding and resources to aid Kentucky communities hardest-hit by the tornadoes and severe weather.\n\nClick here to read the letter from the Kentucky delegation.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/12/statement-from-congressman-comer-on-tornado-damage-in-western-kentucky", "Statement from Congressman Comer on Tornado Damage in Western Kentucky", "2021-12-11", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "\u201cPlease be in prayer for all of the families who lost loved ones in the terrible tornadoes that swept through Western Kentucky last night. Also continue praying for the outstanding first responders who have been on the ground all night rescuing people from devastating damage in Mayfield.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3F834F2B-7FEB-4298-88FB-8B8C7442AC61", "McConnell Statement on Tornadoes and Severe Weather in Kentucky", "2021-12-11", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding the overnight tornadoes and severe weather in Kentucky:\n\n\u201cI am praying for the lives lost and communities impacted by the tornado devastation throughout the Commonwealth. Thank you to the first responders and the National Guard for their brave efforts amid this tragedy. As I continue to get reports from my staff, local and state officials, we will work with the entire Kentucky federal delegation to support Governor Andy Beshear's request for federal assistance in order to aid these hard-hit communities with the funding and resources they need to rebuild.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=8AE017AF-B7E7-4CD1-9979-604736DBD1E9", "Kentucky Congressional Delegation Supports Governor\u2019s Request for Disaster Declaration", "2021-12-11", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Kentucky's federal delegation, including U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul, and Representatives Hal Rogers (KY-05), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Andy Barr (KY-06), Thomas Massie (KY-04), and James Comer (KY-01) sent a joint letter today to President Joe Biden expressing their support for Governor Andy Beshear's request for a disaster declaration for the Commonwealth of Kentucky regarding the overnight tornadoes and severe weather.\n\n\u201cWe write to draw your attention to the December 11, 2021 letter from Governor Andy Beshear requesting a disaster declaration for the Commonwealth of Kentucky due to the severe weather events\u2026We strongly support this request and ask for your timely consideration,\u201d the delegation stated in their letter to the President. \u201cUnfortunately, at least 50 deaths have been reported across multiple counties in the Commonwealth as a result of these tornadoes. The Kentucky National Guard and Kentucky State Police have been mobilized to provide support to Kentuckians, but emergency response has also been hampered by the storm damage.\u201d\n\nInitial reports indicate that this was the longest tornado touchdown in the Commonwealth\u2019s history. The tornadoes have caused significant destruction of property, dangerous road conditions, significant vegetative debris, power outages for thousands of Kentuckians, and severe impacts to transportation and infrastructure.\n\nA federal disaster declaration would release funding and resources to aid Kentucky communities hardest-hit by the tornadoes and severe weather.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-statement-devastating-kentucky-storms-sends-letter-president-biden/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases Statement on Devastating Kentucky Storms, Sends Letter to President Biden Requesting Assistance", "2021-12-11", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 11, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement following devastating storms and tornadoes across Kentucky:\n\n\u201cOur hearts are broken for all those suffering from last night\u2019s horrific storms. As daylight comes and we begin to fully understand the severity of the devastation, we mourn and we pray,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cI and my team will do all we can to assist our local and state officials as they lead the immediate response, and we will aggressively help families, businesses, and officials access the federal recovery resources.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul also immediately sent a letter to President Biden requesting expeditious approval of the Governor\u2019s requests for federal assistance. The letter is attached HERE, and you will find text of it below:\n\nDear President Biden,\n\nLast night and early this morning devastating storms swept across multiple states, including Kentucky. A single tornado from that system may have been on the ground for over 200 miles, and a large swath of the Commonwealth has been severely hit. As the sun comes up this morning we will begin to understand the true scope of the devastation, but we already know of loss of life and severe property damage.\n\nThe Governor of the Commonwealth has requested federal assistance this morning, and certainly further requests will be coming as the situation is assessed. I fully support those requests and ask that you move expeditiously to approve the appropriate resources for our state.\n\nSincerely,\n\nRand Paul, M.D.\n\nUnited States Senator\n\nIf you are a Kentuckian and need assistance with lost or damaged documents such as Social Security cards, VA records, military medals and records, and tax paperwork, please contact our office by going to paul.senate.gov and by calling our Bowling Green office at (270) 782-8303.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=DBCED2E7-07C9-48D9-A725-9EDC4475743D", "Attorney General Cameron's Office Awarded $600,000 Federal Grant to Provide Transitional Housing for Human Trafficking Survivors in Southeastern Kentucky", "2021-12-10", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "FRANKFORT, Ky. (December 10, 2021) \u2013 Attorney General Daniel Cameron and U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (KY-05) announced that the Kentucky Attorney General's office was awarded a $600,000 federal grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop a transitional and short-term housing-assistance program for survivors of human trafficking in southeastern Kentucky.\n\nThe Attorney General\u2019s Office of Trafficking and Abuse Prevention and Prosecution (TAPP) will develop the program in partnership with Refuge for Women, a nonprofit recovery program for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The program will assist human trafficking survivors in Bell, Clay, Harlan, Jackson, Knox, Laurel, Rockcastle, and Whitley Counties.\n\n\u201cWe must do everything we can to not only end human trafficking but to support trafficking victims, and this $600,000 grant will allow us to provide safe and stable housing services in an underserved region of our Commonwealth,\u201d said Attorney General Cameron. \u201cWe know that there is a great need for these services and that they are essential to assisting survivors in their healing and long-term recovery. Refuge for Women\u2019s care model is recognized nationally, and we are proud to partner with them to develop this program. We also appreciate the support of Congressman Rogers and Congressman Barr.\u201d\n\n\"Refuge for Women is excited to learn about the news of funding from the federal government to help victims of sex trafficking in the state of Kentucky,\u201d said Ked Frank, President of Refuge for Women. \u201cWe are excited to continue our work with the Attorney General's office to help more people in need.\u201d\n\nThe housing-assistance program will offer survivors the option to participate in a communal-site, transitional-housing program in Garrard County or a short-term housing-assistance program. Both options will include case-management support from professionals within the Refuge for Women organization and assistance from community survivors.\n\n\u201cThe inhumane practice of sex trafficking must be stopped in Kentucky, and we also need a place of refuge for the victims of these terrible crimes. It is heartbreaking to know that the latest data ranks Kentucky ninth in the country for new cases of criminal human trafficking,\u201d said Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05). \u201cI\u2019m grateful for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron\u2019s determination to crack down on this problem, and for utilizing this DOJ grant to ensure victims have a safe place to rehabilitate. It\u2019s always an honor to protect funding for these crucial federal grants that benefit the people of southern and eastern Kentucky.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe partnership between the Kentucky Attorney General\u2019s Office and Refuge for Women will help survivors of human trafficking recover,\u201d said Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06). \u201cI proudly supported Refuge for Women through a letter of support to the Department of Justice and voted for the funds used for this grant.\u201d\n\nParticipants in the program will be identified through self-referrals or referrals from prosecutors, law enforcement, and victims\u2019 advocates. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Human Trafficking Program. The program is dedicated to victim-centered responses to human trafficking.\n\nThis is the second federal grant Attorney General Cameron\u2019s office has received from the Department of Justice to address human trafficking in the Commonwealth. In 2020, the Office received a grant to develop a human trafficking awareness campaign in the Commonwealth. The resulting \u201cYour Eyes Save Lives\u201d campaign was launched in January 2021 and encourages Kentuckians to recognize the signs of human trafficking and report it to law enforcement.\n\nFor more information about Attorney General Cameron\u2019s work to end human trafficking in Kentucky, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=550C23F3-D04E-4622-A0BF-D58D12C1473B", "McConnell: Inflation Is Out of Control on the Democrats\u2019 Watch", "2021-12-10", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement regarding updated inflation numbers released this morning:\n\n\u201cThis morning\u2019s numbers confirm what every American family already knows: Inflation is out of control on the Democrats\u2019 watch.\n\n\u201c6.8% inflation is the worst in almost 40 years. The costs of essentials have skyrocketed. Wages have not even come close to keeping pace, so the average American has gotten a pay cut. It is exactly what experts warned Democrats\u2019 reckless spending would cause.\n\n\u201cNow Washington Democrats are a broken record that\u2019s gotten stuck on the worst possible response: More borrowing, more printing, more reckless spending. Trillions upon trillions more. They want to double down and attempt to inflate their way out of inflation.\n\n\u201cThe American people cannot take another reckless taxing and spending spree that hurts their families and helps China. It is unthinkable that Senate Democrats would try to respond to this inflation report by ramming through another massive socialist spending package in a matter of days.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A42339C3-817E-4396-8CE0-027EDC5E1B66", "$4.9 Trillion: Without Budget Gimmicks, Cost of Democrats\u2019 Reckless Taxing and Spending Spree Skyrockets", "2021-12-10", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding the recent CBO report:\n\n\u201cAs a Democratic Senator explained last month, the reckless taxing and spending spree is full of \u2018shell games\u2019 and \u2018budget gimmicks\u2019 meant to mask the pain it would cause our country.\n\n\u201cDemocrats want permanent new entitlements. To create a fake lower price tag, their bill pretends much of the spending would stop in a few years. To be clear, Democrats do not claim this would actually happen.\n\n\u201cThe nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office just announced that if you ignore this fake accounting and admit the spending would continue, Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree would actually cost a staggering $4.9 trillion in the first decade alone. It would balloon deficits by $3 trillion in just 10 years.\n\n\u201cThis red ink tsunami would be irresponsible at any time. During the worst inflation in almost 40 years, it would be insane.\n\n\u201cThe same Democrats who falsely promised this bill would cost $0 now say they would offset future extensions, so nobody should worry. It\u2019s comical. Either this plan would explode our debt or Democrats intend to raise taxes by trillions and trillions more than they\u2019re admitting, beyond the massive tax hikes in the bill.\n\n\u201cIt was clear yesterday and it\u2019s even clearer today: Washington Democrats must not force through their gigantic, reckless taxing and spending spree.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=033307FC-C707-4D24-9954-B5DA5ABF6571", "Senator McConnell Statement on President Bendapudi", "2021-12-09", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding President Neeli Bendapudi\u2019s tenure at the University of Louisville:\n\n\u201cWhen President Neeli Bendapudi personally informed me of her decision to leave the University of Louisville, I was excited for her but saddened to hear the news. I remember meeting her in 2018 when she was named the 18th president of the university. I knew right away that she was the best person for the job - a premier academic and administrator with a passion for higher education. When she arrived, the university faced struggles in both its academic and athletic departments. She made it her top priority to turn these struggling programs around and make the school competitive once again.\n\n\u201cI was greatly impressed by the energy, enthusiasm, and strong vision she had for UofL and enjoyed watching her become an expert in raising the \u201cL.\u201d Dr. Bendapudi deserves much credit for her many accomplishments during her tenure at UofL, and I want to thank her for her impressive leadership and work on behalf of the university and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I also appreciate her strong support of the McConnell Center scholarship program, as well as the McConnell Chao Archives.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure her decision to leave was a tough one, and I know that UofL will always have a special place in her heart. I join the university\u2019s students, faculty, staff and fans \u2013 along with all my fellow proud Cardinal alums - in wishing her well. Elaine and I will greatly miss seeing her during our frequent visits to campus.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1D0E79AB-C734-4F5A-9AB4-8657C8089EB0", "Democrats\u2019 Toddler Takeover Cuts Choices, Raises Costs, & \u201cInsults the Diversity of American Families\u201d", "2021-12-09", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cOn Tuesday, I shined a spotlight on Washington Democrats\u2019 proposed \u2018toddler takeover.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in order to upend families\u2019 arrangements\u2026 create massive inflation in daycare costs\u2026 and attack faith-based providers.\n\n\u201cDemocrats say their plan would not hurt faith-based providers because it wouldn\u2019t explicitly block them upfront.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s only a small part of the story.\n\n\u201cThe reckless taxing and spending spree might not ban faith-based providers on day one. But their scheme of mandates and subsidies would slowly and quietly push them out.\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 bill would deny religious providers an extra funding stream for upgrading their facilities which their secular competitors would get.\n\n\u201cAnd their proposal would let woke bureaucrats persecute faith-based groups unless they leave their values at the door.\n\n\u201cIf a Jewish daycare wants to prioritize Jewish families, they could get thrown out of the Democrats\u2019 scheme for discrimination!\n\n\u201cA Catholic facility could be kicked out if families who are registered parishioners get first dibs!\n\n\u201cIf a faith-based provider decides not to hire somebody who fundamentally rejects their teachings, left-wing bureaucrats and lawyers could come after them. The woke mob that stalks cake-bakers and florists is now coming for church daycare.\n\n\u201cTwenty-one organizations representing hundreds of thousands of faith-based daycares and preschools signed an open letter to the Senate. Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims all wrote this to Chairwoman Murray and Senator Burr.\n\n\u201c\u2018The Build Back Better Act will suppress, if not exclude, the participation of many faith-based providers\u2026\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018[P]rovisions in the bill text make it virtually impossible for many religious providers to participate.\u2019\n\n***\n\n\u201cNow, the far left says that if you don\u2019t support this toddler takeover, you\u2019re out of touch.\n\n\u201cBut they\u2019re projecting. It\u2019s their Big Government scheme that is out of touch with the diverse aspirations of different families.\n\n\u201cLast year, a nonpartisan survey asked families what childcare arrangements they\u2019d ideally like.\n\n\u201cApart from the pandemic, if finances were no obstacle, what would American parents want?\n\n\u201cThe share who said center-based childcare was 27%. This is the only route that Democrats want to subsidize. Just 27% of parents say it\u2019s their ideal world. And of that 27%, a majority prefer the faith-based options that Democrats would push out.\n\n\u201cA larger group, nearly 40%, said their ideal arrangement would involve full-time parenting in some form. Either one parent stays home, or the two trade off.\n\n\u201cAnother 9% said they\u2019d ideally like an extended relative like a grandparent to be the caregiver.\n\n\u201cOther families would ideally want a nanny-share or neighborhood co-op.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 daycare scheme would give all these people nothing.\n\n\u201cA family that has sacrificed so that a mom or dad can stay home will not get one penny for books or supplies or to make up for lost wages.\n\n\u201cA grandparent who leaves a part-time job to spend weekdays with their grandkids will not get a dime from the Democrats\u2019 plan.\n\n\u201cA neighborhood nanny-share gets zero help.\n\n\u201cForget about diversity. Forget about choice and fairness. Families would either enroll in the specific pathway that Big Labor and Big Government like best or they\u2019d get nothing.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, even in the centers that Democrats do want to subsidize, parents would get a very mixed bag.\n\n\u201cAnalysts agree the new regulations would send costs skyrocketing. The District of Columbia\u2019s local government estimates these sorts of policies would increase the cost of childcare by roughly $12,000 per child per year.\n\n\u201cTheir plan would supposedly use government subsidies to make up for this new inflation, but that assistance would be confusing and uneven.\n\n\u201cSo this bill manages to be wildly inflationary and wildly unfair at the same time.\n\n\u201cIt insults the diversity of American families and their aspirations.\n\n\u201cIt simply hands money and power to the same woke bureaucrats who are letting far-left propaganda into K-12 schools and then sending the Department of Justice after parents who speak up.\n\n\u201cThis bill would give HHS Secretary Becerra, a hard-core culture warrior, a giant slush fund to start shaping the care of babies and toddlers.\n\n\u201cAnd facilities and families who make different choices would be left facing a massively inflated market with zero help.\n\n\u201cThis would be an awful proposal for American families even if it were free. But it isn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats don\u2019t just have to explain to parents why they want to make childcare more expensive, more inflexible, and more unfair.\n\n\u201cThey also get to explain why they want to print and borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to do it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=87B7072F-BB8B-4DF8-90E2-44ED10EFF2EE", "McConnell Delivers Rotunda Tribute to Senator Bob Dole", "2021-12-09", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today paying tribute to Senator Bob Dole:\n\n\u201cOn April 14, 1969, Senator Bob Dole delivered his first floor speech.\n\n\u201cHe said, \u2018the task ahead is monumental.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd this was before Bob knew he\u2019d end up leading a conference of 53 Senators!\n\n\u201cYears later, after he had become Leader, Bob described his Senate management challenges with his trademark wit.\n\n\u201c\u2018If I\u2019d known,\u2019 he said, \u2018we were going to win control of the Senate\u2026 we\u2019d have run better candidates!\u2019\n\n\u201cI swear, Bob could have made it as a stand-up comic.\n\n\u201cBut in that maiden speech, Bob was earnest.\n\n\u201cHe was already championing a signature cause: helping Americans with disabilities.\n\n\u201c\u2018The task ahead is monumental,\u2019 he said, \u2018but I am confident that there are forces in America ready and willing to meet the challenge.\u2019\n\n\u201cBob Dole himself was certainly proof of that.\n\n***\n\n\u201cThat maiden speech came 24 years to the day after he sustained his combat wounds in Italy.\n\n\u201cBob had already risen to a monumental task. He\u2019d taken the fight to the Nazis. And he\u2019d nearly paid for it with his life.\n\n\u201cThrough all his decades in public service, Bob Dole knew exactly where he came from.\n\n\u201cA son of Dustbowl hardship \u2014 who was laser-focused on food security and rural issues.\n\n\u201cA wounded warrior \u2014 who spent decades carrying fellow veterans and Americans with disabilities on his shoulders.\n\n\u201cBob was the last of the Greatest Generation to run for president. But he was never stuck in the past.\n\n\u201cHis roots ran deep\u2026 but he was always looking to new horizons.\n\n\u201cFrom that first speech\u2026 through his years in leadership\u2026\n\n\u201cThrough Bob\u2019s incredibly active retirement-in-name-only\u2026\n\n\u201cHe built brighter futures for millions.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBob was blessed with long life to watch this legacy take effect.\n\n\u201cBut that was no accident!\n\n\u201cBob liked to joke that he planned for longevity by closely studying our most senior colleagues.\n\n\u201cHe had a whole comedy routine about how he\u2019d tried to copy Strom Thurmond\u2019s eating habits:\n\n\u201cIf Strom takes a shrimp, I take a shrimp. If he eats a banana, I eat a banana!\u201d\n\n***\n\n\u201cBut the real engine behind Bob\u2019s 98 remarkable years was his love.\n\n\u201cHis love for Elizabeth and for Robin; for public service; for Kansas and for America.\n\n\u201cToday we honor the amazing life that love created.\n\n\u201cAnd we thank God, the source of all love\u2026\n\n\u201cBoth for Bob\u2019s incredible journey here in this life\u2026\n\n\u201c\u2026and for the fact that he has entered his eternal reward in the next.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-republicans-musnt-enable-bidens-overspending-waiving-paygo/", "Dr. Rand Paul: Republicans musn\u2019t enable Biden\u2019s overspending by waiving PAYGO", "2021-12-09", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 9, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In an op-ed for the Washington Examiner today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul made clear his opposition to raising the debt limit and waiving PAYGO.\n\n\u201cFor months, Republicans gave President Joe Biden\u2019s social spending bill the accurate label: \u201cthe Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree.\u201d Republicans, in unison, opposed the $2 trillion spending spree Democrats passed this spring. But now, Republican leadership is pushing a bill to forgive all that spending,\u201d stated Dr. Paul in the piece. \u201cAccording to the law that governs Congress\u2019s budget process, this spending has to be offset by equal cuts from somewhere else. The law is called PAYGO. But Republican leadership and Democrats are going to waive PAYGO, allowing Biden\u2019s spending spree to become debt instead of being offset by spending cuts.\u201d\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s entire op-ed HERE or below.\n\n***\n\nRepublicans musn\u2019t enable Biden\u2019s overspending by waiving PAYGO\n\nBy: Dr. Rand Paul\n\nDecember 9, 2021\n\nhttps://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/republicans-musnt-enable-bidens-overspending-by-waiving-paygo\n\nThere\u2019s a palpable chill in the air in Washington this week, and I\u2019m not talking about the weather.\n\nI\u2019m talking about the icy forecast of our country\u2019s fiscal stability and the possibility that Republicans could be complicit in creating such treacherous conditions.\n\nFor months, Republicans gave President Joe Biden\u2019s social spending bill the accurate label: \u201cthe Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree.\u201d Republicans, in unison, opposed the $2 trillion spending spree Democrats passed this spring. But now, Republican leadership is pushing a bill to forgive all that spending.\n\nAccording to the law that governs Congress\u2019s budget process, this spending has to be offset by equal cuts from somewhere else. The law is called PAYGO. But Republican leadership and Democrats are going to waive PAYGO, allowing Biden\u2019s spending spree to become debt instead of being offset by spending cuts.\n\nThis monstrosity of a bill also allows the debt ceiling to go up with a simple majority vote. Republican leadership, which ostensibly guards the filibuster, is allowing this bill to neuter the filibuster with respect to the debt ceiling. The bill sets a precedent that the debt ceiling can be raised without requiring a supermajority \u2014 a big concession.\n\nVoters should be appalled that Republican leadership is basically giving Democrats their Christmas wish list on a silver platter. This horrible \u201cdeal\u201d they concocted gives Democrats an easy path to raise the debt ceiling using expedited procedures and would enable even more reckless spending.\n\nThe current debt limit is $28.9 trillion. That\u2019s essentially the limit on America\u2019s credit card. What happens when you don\u2019t pay the balance of your credit card bill? You pay interest charges. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now projects that interest costs on our debt will be $5.4 trillion over 10 years, and the projected deficit for this year is $1.1 trillion.\n\nWe cannot afford to raise the debt limit without meaningful spending reform. Continued reckless spending is dangerous to the health of our country and our national security. Simply put, the bill provides reckless spenders with a blank check and sends the country further down a dangerous path that threatens a future of confiscatory tax rates, low employment prospects, and high inflation.\n\nI hate to say it, but I told you so.\n\nIn March, I tried to force Congress to follow the rules it had set for itself and pay for new COVID spending by enforcing PAYGO rules. Speaking from the Senate floor, I noted that \u201cbig spenders like to say the federal government is different than a family budget and that we have the Federal Reserve who can print up money to buy our debt. But all that does is cause inflation.\u201d\n\nAnd what do you know, just as I predicted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that inflation hit 6.2% \u2014 the highest level in a generation.\n\nReady for the worst part of all this? If the Biden administration\u2019s Build Back Better spending bill passes this year, it won\u2019t be subject to the mandatory PAYGO cuts. Republicans would literally be facilitating Biden and the Democrats\u2019 priorities.\n\nI\u2019ve often said that both Republicans and Democrats are at fault for the spending crisis in Washington, and this case is no different. Republicans ought to stop assisting the Democrats in playing their reckless game of kick-the-can-down-the-road and resist this bizarre attempt to facilitate their agenda.\n\nI have tried to warn of the dire forecast for our nation if we continue with this fiscal insanity. And while I may not be a meteorologist, I can see when a storm is brewing. Congress ought to join me in keeping an eye on the horizon and act before it\u2019s too late.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=18133EE1-2B6C-4E98-A4D8-A16E56DD0EDB", "CAROL Act Passes the U.S. House of Representatives", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Today, the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy (CAROL) Act unanimously passed through the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) championed the legislation to honor the legacy of his late-wife Eleanor \u201cCarol\u201d Leavell Barr, who passed away last year at 39 years old from sudden cardiac death. The CAROL Act makes critical investments in research for valvular heart disease. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, where Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are leading a companion bill.\n\nThe CAROL Act authorizes a grant program administered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), supporting research on valvular heart disease. It also convenes a workshop of subject matter experts to identify research needs and opportunities to develop prescriptive guidelines for treatment of patients with MVP. Finally, the bill instructs the Centers for Disease Control to increase public awareness regarding symptoms of valvular heart disease and effective strategies for preventing sudden cardiac death.\n\n\u201cWith today\u2019s vote, we are one step closer to pushing the CAROL Act across the finish line and enshrining Carol Barr\u2019s legacy,\u201d said Congressman Barr. \u201cThis bill delivers critical resources to close the gaps in understanding about valvular heart disease and save lives. I am grateful to the American Heart Association, WomenHeart, the American College of Cardiology and so many of my colleagues who supported this bill from the start.\u201d\n\n\u201cCarol Barr was a devoted mother, an accomplished professional, and a supportive spouse. Her grace and compassion made an everlasting impact on the world, and especially on her family and community. Andy was blessed with a wonderful wife and their daughters were fortunate to have an amazing mother. There is no better way to honor her memory than to support initiatives that will help save lives,\u201d said House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. \u201cI am in awe of Andy\u2019s strength in navigating grief to work on the CAROL Act \u2013 legislation that will provide $20 million in research grants to study valvular heart problems. It is a fitting tribute to Carol\u2019s legacy. It is an honor to support this legislation alongside my colleagues.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know the pain of losing a spouse to a deadly disease while still young\u2014nobody can prepare you for that kind of loss. I hope that Rep. Barr and his family can take comfort in the passage today of the CAROL Act, which will promote research that will help spare other families in the future from experiencing that pain,\u201d said Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer. \u201cI thank Rep. Barr for his leadership and work to advance this important legislation in his late wife\u2019s memory. Carol\u2019s legacy lives on, not only in those she knew and loved but also in the countless Americans whose lives will be saved by the research into heart valve diseases undertaken in her memory.\u201d\n\n\u201cEarlier today, I had the privilege of honoring Carol Barr\u2019s legacy on the House Floor by speaking in favor of the CAROL Act. Thank you, Congressman Barr, for introducing this life-saving legislation that will expand research on valvular heart disease and its treatment. No family member should lose a loved one to this horrible disease, and the CAROL Act brings us towards this future,\u201d said House Republican Whip Steve Scalise.\n\n\u201cOne of the most troubling aspects of mitral valve prolapse is just how much we still don\u2019t know about the causes and risk factors that can lead to it. The Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy (CAROL) Act takes a number of crucial steps to help us learn more about the condition, including through the establishment of a national registry of cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association is pleased to support the CAROL Act and profoundly thanks Rep. Barr\u2019s for his efforts to advance our understanding and awareness of heart valve disease, which kills approximately 25,000 people each year,\u201d said Mark Schoeberl, Executive Vice President, Advocacy, American Heart Association.\n\n\"The passage of the CAROL (Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy) Act not only serves as a spark of hope for many cardiovascular patients, but will truly honor Congressman's Barr's wife. The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is enormously thankful to the Congressman and his staff, and is proud to have played a role in the process,\u201d said ACC Health Affairs Committee Chair Samuel O. Jones IV, MD, MPH, FACC. \u201cMore than 5 million Americans are diagnosed with valvular heart disease each year and this vital legislation helps spread awareness on a critical area of cardiovascular health. This legislation will make needed impacts on research and education to improve care for our patients. We are grateful for those, like Congressman Barr, that champion efforts to enhance heart health and look forward to continued partnerships.\u201d\n\n\u201cWomen are more likely than men to go undiagnosed, and therefore to go untreated, for heart valve disease. By investing in research and increasing awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of heart valve disease, as well as screening and detection efforts, the CAROL Act will help address that inequity and will save lives. WomenHeart thanks Congressman Barr for championing passage of this bill in the House, and we look forward to seeing it pass in the Senate,\u201d said Celina Gorre, CEO of WomenHeart.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=FDA7A7D7-8446-4916-85B9-565962E49CA1", "Congressman Rogers Votes for Improved National Defense Authorization Act", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act after including important revisions from Republicans, including a boost of $25 billion more than last year for national defense, and stripping the bill of a controversial \"red flag\" provision, dropping expansion of selective service to women, and zeroing out all funds for Afghanistan's now terrorist-led military.\n\n\"I was pleased to vote for this bipartisan bill that paves the way for stronger a national defense, modernizes our Navy fleet, and provides more support for our servicemembers and their families, including a 2.7% pay increase. As President FDR said in 1941, December 7th will 'live in infamy,' and in light of the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, we owe it to the American people to ensure that we maintain the world's top military force moving forward,\" said Congressman Rogers. \"As Russian and Chinese aggression increase, this bill strengthens our military posture, supporting our allies and ramping up intelligence efforts with historic investments in emerging technologies. After the Biden Administration's catastrophic failure in Afghanistan, this bill also establishes an independent commission to investigate the 20-year conflict and eliminates all funding for the Afghan military, which is now led by the Taliban.\"\n\nThe legislation also works to address our nation's southern border crisis by deploying military personnel to assist Customs and Border Protection.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=202EF3FA-1EE2-494D-A62A-219C6465C950", "President Biden\u2019s Illegal Vaccine Mandate is \u201cBlatant Overreach\u201d", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the vaccine mandate:\n\n\u201cFor the last two years, as the country has battled COVID-19, I have been a strong and constant advocate of following the science and taking precautions.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s included strong support for the safe and effective vaccines that have helped millions of Americans substantially lower their risk of death or serious illness.\n\n\u201cI took advantage of these modern medical miracles as soon as I could. I\u2019ve received a booster. I\u2019ve encouraged Kentuckians and all Americans to take full advantage as well. I have recorded public service announcements.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m a survivor of childhood polio. I\u2019ve watched vaccines obliterate polio in our entire country in my lifetime. Trust me, there is no bigger proponent of vaccination.\n\n\u201cBut here\u2019s the thing, Mr. President. The United States of America is a free country. The federal government, elites in Washington, cannot micromanage citizens\u2019 personal choices without a legitimate basis in the law and the Constitution. And that goes double for Presidents going far beyond the bounds of their office and their authority.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s absurd private-sector vaccine mandate is blatant overreach. It is illegal. The Administration has already lost in federal court and had it blocked.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats have lashed themselves to a mast that is very simple: Unvaccinated people should be fired. That\u2019s what they want. They don\u2019t trust individuals, families, doctors, employers, and customers to sort things out for themselves. They want every worker at a medium-sized business and up to either get this shot or get fired by President Biden. And buried in the illegal mandate is a call to explore whether it should expand to all businesses.\n\n\u201cThis is not how things work in America. Period.\n\n\u201cWorkers are not happy. Medium-sized businesses are not happy, especially not in the middle of this worker shortage.\n\n\u201cAnd frankly nobody who understands our system of government is happy.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard from so many Kentuckians who are affected by the Administration\u2019s suite of several unwise vaccine mandates.\n\n\u201cQuote: \u2018My wife\u2026 was notified that if she doesn\u2019t get fully vaccinated by January 4th then she would be terminated and lose her job without severance or unemployment\u2026 she has been [there] for 17 years and has nothing but exemplary reviews.\u2019\n\n\u201cQuote: \u2018I will lose my job at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. I very much enjoyed my work there and had every intention of retiring from the plant. However, due to Joe Biden\u2019s forced vaccine mandate I will be terminated \u2026 Please let a man who wants to work, go to work.\u2019\n\n\u201cQuote: \u2018My firm [of] 103 employees will [either] lose about 25 to the mandate, or lay off 4 to get to 99. Which one should we do?\u2019\n\n\u201cRemember, Mr. President, personally, I\u2019d encourage each of these Kentuckians to get the vaccine. But for the purposes of this conversation that isn\u2019t the point.\n\n\u201cYou better believe I am going to stand up and fight for their freedom.\n\n\u201cI want to thank the junior Senator for Indiana for spearheading this resolution to overturn the Biden Administration\u2019s illegal mandate. I am proud to cosponsor it, I\u2019ll proudly vote for it, and I urge every Senator to do the same.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=27BDC8E8-B112-4D7C-B884-35B5D7F2487D", "Democrats Promote Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors as Murders Surge", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding crime rates:\n\n\u201cThe national murder rate just recorded its biggest jump in more than a century. In some cities, homicides have set all-time records.\n\n\u201cFrom Albuquerque to Milwaukee to Memphis to Des Moines, city officials reported more murders last year than in any prior year.\n\n\u201cIn my hometown of Louisville, homicides this year have now broken last year\u2019s all-time record.\n\n\u201cAll last year, liberal politicians and activists made absurd and false claims about law enforcement. \u2018We need to completely dismantle\u2019 local police. \u2018Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist.\u2019\n\n\u201cA left-wing messaging campaign has spent a year and a half trying to chill law enforcement and policing. A network of liberal district attorneys around the country are matching that rhetoric with incredibly soft-on-crime practices behind the scenes. And the predictable result of all this has been a collapse in public safety.\n\n\u201cLast month, a man killed six people and injured dozens more at a Christmas market in Wisconsin, just weeks after he was released on bail for another set of violent charges.\n\n\u201cThis criminal had already been arrested and locked up in neighboring Milwaukee County, but he was let out by a liberal D.A. who remarked several years ago that, \u2018Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into treatment program, who\u2019s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It\u2019s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.\u2019\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s now a whole bunch of grieving families in Waukesha who have strong feelings about that \u2018approach.\u2019\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s a headline from New York City, just this week. \u2018Man busted for assault set free, allegedly beats two random NYC women \u2013 then cut loose again.\u2019\n\n\u201cSmash-and-grabs, flash mob thefts, and carjackings are increasingly facts of life in multiple major cities.\n\n\u201cBut against this backdrop, Democrats just want to keep getting weaker on crime and softer on public safety.\n\n\u201cWe expect to vote today on the nomination of Rachel Rollins to be a U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.\n\n\u201cMs. Rollins has spent years in her current job as a D.A. pushing the idea that the state should wipe entire categories of crimes off the list of things worth prosecuting. She\u2019d rather her office not go after trespassers, shoplifters, or even those found possessing drugs with the intent to distribute.\n\n\u201cThis soft-on-crime advocacy should have earned the nominee a pink slip. Instead, President Biden\u2019s giving her a promotion.\n\n\u201cI urge Senators to vote no.\n\n\u201cLaw-abiding Americans don\u2019t want prosecutors who refuse to prosecute.\n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t want city jails equipped with revolving doors. They need leaders who defend the rule of law.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=B8A1924B-5D64-4DBF-B34A-E4BF5427CCC2", "Washington Democrats Will Own Their Debt Explosion", "2021-12-08", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cFor Washington Democrats, 2021 will have one major theme: Ramming through inflationary spending on a partisan basis that hurts American families and helps China.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s how this all-Democrat government began the year, jamming through a wasteful excuse for a stimulus bill that drove up prices and made supply chain problems even worse. Not a single Republican supported it. And Democrats now want to end the year with another massive spree that would be even worse.\n\n\u201cThe whole country understands that Democrats own this mess. They have seized one-party control of the economy, so you better believe they\u2019ll have one-party accountability for the resulting nightmare.\n\n\u201cThe President and his allies are badly upside down in overall approval ratings, upside down on the generic ballot, upside down on the economy. And the more the men and women of this country learn about the reckless taxing and spending spree that Democrats are planning next, the less they want it or anything like it.\n\n\u201cDemocrats have wanted to transform the country alone. They want to print and borrow trillion after trillion on their own. They want to create even more inflation on their own. So, as Republicans have made clear for months, they will have to own a debt ceiling increase as well.\n\n\u201cThis week, the House and the Senate have reached a bipartisan agreement to make that happen. As the Democratic Leader said yesterday that Democrats are, \u2018willing to carry the burden.\u2019 And so they will.\n\n\u201cWe have reached an agreement on a one-time, one-shot, statutory process that will enable Democrats to raise the debt limit at a fixed dollar amount which they will specify.\n\n\u201cMuch like the vote on an arms sale resolution that occurred yesterday and the Congressional Review Act vote that will occur today, this will be a standard expedited process, at a simple majority threshold, established by law.\n\n\u201cDemocrats will get one shot at this. They won\u2019t be able to add any other amendments. And every single Senate Democrat will have to put their name to the gigantic dollar amount of debt they\u2019re prepared to pile on the American people.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=3849793F-0EF5-4A94-89A8-3F19961B0AE2", "Barr Votes for NDAA to Boost Defense, Pay for Military Servicemembers", "2021-12-07", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Tonight, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr voted in favor of the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). After his vote, Congressman Barr released the following statement:\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act authorizes a much-deserved pay raise for military servicemembers, funds to improve military family housing and prevents cuts to the military health program. Additionally, the NDAA reverses proposed cuts by President Biden for new aircraft, combat vehicles, missile systems and other key military weaponry that will be essential in defending our homeland now and in the years to come.\n\n\u201cIncluded in this package is a provision to ensure that no military servicemember can be dishonorably discharged for choosing not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This NDAA version also removes Red Flag law provisions concerning firearm possession and the requirement for women to register for the Selective Service System, otherwise known as the military draft.\n\n\u201cFurthermore, the NDAA contains critical measures that I have been pushing for to hold the Biden Administration accountable for their ongoing failure in Afghanistan. The NDAA authorizes $7 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, $2 billion above the President\u2019s request, to combat the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Lastly, the NDAA provides $300 million in security assistance and intelligence support to Ukraine. This investment will counteract ongoing aggression from Russia toward Ukraine. For these reasons and many more, I voted to support the NDAA.\u201d\n\nUnder the House NDAA, the Biden Administration will be required to submit quarterly reports to Congress regarding:\n\nContingency plans to retrieve Americans still in Afghanistan;\n\nItemized lists of aircraft, combat vehicles, and other U.S. military equipment left behind and destroyed;\n\nThreats posed by Al Qaeda, ISIS-K, and other terrorists operating in Afghanistan;\n\nThreats posed by prisoners released by Taliban during the Afghanistan evacuation. This includes terrorists released from Bagram Air Base, which Congressman Barr warned the Administration about in early May 2021;\n\nCongressman Barr previously pushed legislation in the House requiring the Administration to report to Congress on a regular basis on Americans left behind in Afghanistan, a plan to get them home, and details on military weaponry left behind.\n\nIn addition to the investments made in the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, the NDAA also requires the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to assess the involvement of the CCP in the origins of COVID-19. The legislation also prohibits the DOD from purchasing goods from Chinese forced labor camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.\n\nFor the Sixth District, the bill allows the United States to fulfill international treaty obligations by destroying chemical weapons and authorizes continued chemical agent and munitions destruction activity that occurs at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=B5AB9A6F-0F4E-42B5-AAE0-D58BB20AF009", "Democrats\u2019 Toddler Takeover: Huge Childcare Inflation and Discrimination Against Religion", "2021-12-07", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cThe last time Washington Democrats pushed through a huge change that disrupted families\u2019 arrangements, it earned President Obama the \u2018Lie of the Year\u2019 award.\n\n\u201cDemocrats insisted that if you liked your healthcare plan, you could keep your healthcare plan. It turned out that was totally false. Their reckless government takeover threw many families into chaos.\n\n\u201cThis year, many of the same Democrats want to write a sequel. They want to ram though a radical, reckless, multi-trillion-dollar taxing and spending spree between now and Christmas. And a huge part of their bill would completely upend childcare and pre-K as they exist for families across America.\n\n\u201cIf you like your childcare, you can keep your childcare! Buckle up, parents. What could go wrong?\n\n\u201cThe Democrats have written their toddler takeover in ways that would turn families\u2019 finances upside-down and make already-expensive childcare even costlier.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s walk through it.\n\n\u201cFirst, their reckless taxing and spending spree would make childcare dramatically more expensive through an avalanche of new mandates, regulations, and micromanagement. The usual Washington D.C. routine.\n\n\u201cState and local governments are panicking about the childcare inflation this would cause. Here in D.C., as one liberal analyst uncovered, local officials have formally estimated that the per-child daycare cost for a toddler or an infant would jump by about $12,000 per year.\n\n\u201cTwelve thousand dollars more per child per year! President Biden\u2019s inflation is coming for daycare.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why the other half of their clumsy scheme is to dump subsidies onto some families. They want to borrow and print even more so they can throw money at the thing they will have just made more expensive!\n\n\u201cBut here\u2019s where a bad idea turns into a terrible one.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats wouldn\u2019t help families directly. This isn\u2019t some simple voucher that families can use as they please.\n\n\u201cMy colleagues have produced an insanely tangled scheme where the truckloads of money go from Washington\u2026 to state governments\u2026 to the childcare centers. One leaky bucket after another.\n\n\u201cThe problems run even deeper than that. Democrats want states to sign up for badly underfunded mandates. That\u2019s the effect, because the entitlement programs will surely last forever, but for accounting purposes, Democrats are pretending the money stops after a decade. Many states will not be keen to be socialist guinea pigs.\n\n\u201cThen there\u2019s the fact that the assistance is doled out in incredibly confusing and uneven ways. The subsidies start and stop with no rhyme or reason.\n\n\u201cListen to what a left-leaning organization, the People\u2019s Policy Project, has uncovered. They\u2019ve found that in Year One, a family that earns one dollar over their state median income, \u2018will be eligible for zero subsidies, meaning they will be on the hook for the entire unsubsidized price,\u2019 which they estimate will now cost \u2018at least $13,000 per year higher than before.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe researcher repeats himself because it\u2019s so unbelievable.\n\n\u201c\u2018Having a family income just $1 higher than [your state\u2019s median income] would result in you being ineligible for child care subsidies in 2022 even as the unsubsidized price of child care skyrockets due to the wage and other mandates in the Democratic proposal. This is obviously a perverse outcome and it\u2019s not clear whether lawmakers even realize what they are about to do.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t just one technical glitch. It is emblematic of how ill-conceived their whole experiment is. There are 10 problems like this on every page.\n\n***\n\n\u201cI should add, Mr. President, the families who even get to participate in the mess I\u2019ve just laid out \u2013 they\u2019re actually the lucky ones. Because Democrats want Big Government to pick winners and losers among different families who make different choices.\n\n\u201cMany American families make one set of sacrifices so that both parents can work full-time. These are the people the Democrats are trying to reward, although their plan fails in practice.\n\n\u201cBut Americans are allowed to have different aspirations. Some families make different sacrifices to have a parent at home full-time. Others prefer flexible middle grounds that involve part-time work plus in-home childcare.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 toddler takeover wouldn\u2019t give any of them a dime. No diversity. No flexibility. Institutional daycare or nothing.\n\n\u201cIn fact, it\u2019s worse than nothing. Because a family who wants a provider to come to their house part-time, or wants to participate in a neighborhood nanny-share, will now be stuck in an inflated market. They\u2019ll have to bid against the employers that Democrats have blessed and subsidized.\n\n\u201cThis is the essence of what the Democratic plan would do. Big Government and Big Labor work together to reward some family arrangements and punish others.\n\n\u201cOur all-Democrat government is already botching the things that actually are government\u2019s job. Projecting strength abroad. Maintaining energy independence.\n\n\u201cBut they can\u2019t even do that right. Just look at the poll numbers.\n\n\u201cThe last thing families need are for Democrats to appoint themselves national daycare czars and then botch that, too.\n\n***\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t even touched on one of the most sinister parts of this whole proposal.\n\n\u201cFor parents who do use childcare outside the home, faith-based options are incredibly popular. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that 53% of parents who use center-based care use ones that are linked to a faith-based organization.\n\n\u201cBut the same Democrats who are letting far-left propaganda trickle down from the universities into K-12 schools are now declaring war on faith-based childcare.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats want to unleash the woke mob on church daycare. There are at least two parts of their bill that are direct attacks.\n\n\u201cFirst, liberals are trying to chase faith-based providers out of the childcare industry by denying funds to any facility they deem discriminatory.\n\n\u201cOf course, today\u2019s radical left tosses around those kinds of accusations at any remotely traditional institution.\n\n\u201cFaith-based childcare centers could potentially get their subsidies ripped away if they don\u2019t hire who secular bureaucrats want them to hire, set up their facilities the way secular bureaucrats want them set up, or even \u2014 listen to this \u2014 gave preference to kids of their own faith!\n\n\u201cOrthodox Jewish daycare centers could get kicked out if they say Orthodox Jewish families get first dibs. Evangelical centers could get punished by bureaucrats if the families who belong to the church are accommodated first.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a joke. The left is trying to weaponize the word \u2018discrimination\u2019 to push faith-based childcare out of business.\n\n\u201cAnother part of their bill goes out of its way to deny money for facilities upgrades to buildings that are used for \u2018sectarian instruction or religious worship.\u2019 If a faith-based center leads kids in prayer or teaches them their families\u2019 faiths, they don\u2019t get the funding that everyone else gets.\n\n\u201cWe see this act over and over from the culture warriors. They pretend they\u2019re happy to have religious groups in the public square\u2026 but only if they check all their beliefs at the door.\n\n\u201cA few years ago, the Supreme Court had to strike down a similar policy that penalized faith-based organizations. A state had tried to deny a church a widely-available grant to fix up its playground. The Court struck down the law 7 to 2.\n\n\u201cBut the political left is right back at it.\n\n\u201cJust look at which federal bureaucrat would oversee this giant mess.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s none other than Secretary Becerra, the hard-left culture warrior who got famous by suing the Little Sisters of the Poor for being too Catholic and suing crisis pregnancy centers for being pro-life.\n\n\u201cThis is the person whom Democrats want to give sweeping new powers over families\u2019 private choices.\n\n\u201cSecretary Becerra gets a giant slush fund to bring President Biden\u2019s inflation into childcare and discriminate against people of faith.\n\n\u201cJust one more way Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree would hurt working families.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-puts-senate-record-arms-sale-saudi-arabia/", "Dr. Rand Paul Puts Senate on Record on Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia", "2021-12-07", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 7, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member Rand Paul (R-KY) urged the Senate to support his bipartisan joint resolution of disapproval to block proposed U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Dr. Paul was joined by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Mike Lee (R-UT) in introducing the resolution last month. Dr. Paul gave remarks on the floor before the Senate proceeded to vote on a motion to discharge the resolution from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.\n\n\u201cA message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don\u2019t approve of their war with Yemen,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cBy participating in this sale, we would not only be rewarding reprehensible behavior, but also exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Congress and the Biden Administration should consider the possible consequences of this sale that could accelerate an arms race in the Middle East and jeopardize the security of our military technologies.\u201d\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s floor remarks HERE, and learn more about Dr. Paul\u2019s efforts in his op-ed published in The American Conservative HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nOn November 4, 2021, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $650 million. The AIM-120C is predominately used defensively to strike drones from the air; although, they could conceivably be used in an offensive strike on other aircraft. The proposed sale comes in light of the Saudi-led fuel blockade of Yemen, which has prevented the free flow of food and water in the country. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced an end to \u201coffensive\u201d support in the war in Yemen. However, Saudi Arabia has continued its blockade in Yemen, which has worsened the humanitarian crisis in the country.\n\nThe joint resolution of disapproval is cosponsored by Senators Sanders (D-VT), Lee (R-UT), Leahy (D-VT), Wyden (D-OR), Warren (D-MA), Markey (D-MA), Merkley (D-OR), and Murray (D-WA).\n\nYou can read the joint resolution HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-we-can-end-saudi-blockade-and-bring-relief-long-suffering-yemeni-people/", "Dr. Rand Paul: \u201cWe can end the Saudi blockade and bring relief to the long-suffering Yemeni people\u201d", "2021-12-07", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 7, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) penned an op-ed published in the American Conservative on his joint resolution of disapproval to block proposed U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The joint resolution will be voted on in the Senate today.\n\nYou can read Dr. Paul\u2019s full op-ed HERE or below, and learn more about his joint resolution HERE.\n\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s air and naval blockade of Yemen is an abomination. For years now, ships that would otherwise carry food, fuel, and medicine are turned away by the Saudi-led coalition, depriving the Yemeni people of the necessities to sustain civilization. Saudi Arabia\u2019s intervention in the Yemeni civil war is a chilling example of the cruelty of warfare by starvation. According to the United Nations, five million people are one step away from succumbing to famine and disease, and ten million more are right behind them. But, this week, the Senate can start the process of ending this crisis by passing my legislation to cancel an American arms sale to Saudi Arabia that aids and abets the subjugation of the Yemeni people.\n\nThe children of Yemen who survive Saudi Arabia\u2019s barbaric blockade will inevitably tell their sons and daughters of the horrors of their youth. And those sons and daughters will tell their sons and daughters. Through oral tradition, a thousand generations of Yemenis will know of the Crown Prince\u2019s ruthlessness. And they will also know that it was the Americans that sold him the weapons to wage his murderous campaign.\n\nThe reports from Yemen describe a nightmare. The Washington Post reported of a three-year-old boy, who could not walk or speak, described his face as \u201cskeletal\u201d and arms and legs as \u201cthin as twigs.\u201d He weighed ten pounds, and his father said that he sometimes goes two days without eating because Saudi import restrictions have made food prohibitively expensive, as if mere sustenance was a luxury. The New York Times told the story of a mother who, after three days of failing to find a ride, carried her 8-month-old son while walking two hours to reach medics to treat acute malnutrition. Even after a week of treatment with enriched formula, the boy still lay motionless on his hospital bed.\n\nTens of thousands of children have already died from disease, malnutrition, or starvation. International aid agencies, who also have to fight the Saudi blockade to provide humanitarian assistance, put it succinctly: \u201cthe people of Yemen are not starving. They are being starved.\u201d\n\nThe Saudi siege of Yemen is made possible because of American weaponry. The arsenal provided by the United States includes billions of dollars\u2019 worth of military aircraft and thousands of air-to-ground munitions. Only weeks ago, the Biden Administration approved a new $650 million sale of 280 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles and 596 missile launchers to the Saudis. As painful as it is to admit, the United States is an accessory Saudi savagery.\n\nPresident Biden says the latest sale is merely to help defend Saudi territorial integrity, but the commander in chief\u2019s words do not match Saudi actions. According to William Hartung, the Director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy, \u201cthe air blockade is enforced by a threat to shoot down any aircraft, military or civilian, that enters Yemeni air space with the goal of landing at Sana\u2019a airport. The provision of air-to-air missiles gives further credibility to this threat, dissuading any government or aid group from bringing in crucial medicines or flying patients in and out of Yemen.\u201d In other words, no weapon is exclusively defensive and continued American arm sales means continued death and starvation in Yemen.\n\nI am leading a bipartisan effort to end America\u2019s complicity in Saudi Arabia\u2019s war on the Yemeni people. This week, I will force a vote on a bipartisan disapproval resolution that proposes to cancel the arms sale. To overcome an almost certain veto, this effort will require the support of two-thirds of both chambers of Congress. If Members of Congress believe in humanitarianism, if they believe America is a force for good that serves as a model for other nations to emulate, if they believe that the crushing of the Yemeni people must be stopped, then they must vote for the resolution of disapproval.\n\nWe have a chance to tell the Crown Prince that American arms sales will end until he gives up his starvation campaign. We can end the Saudi blockade and bring relief to the long-suffering Yemeni people. Should we fail to seize this opportunity, history will never let us forget that America, the last best hope for humanity, failed to protect defenseless civilians from the cruelty of a criminal regime.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/12/comer-oversight-republicans-probe-pandemic-unemployment-benefits-stolen-by-foreign-adversaries", "Comer, Oversight Republicans Probe Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Stolen by Foreign Adversaries", "2021-12-06", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Representative Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), and Oversight Republicans today called on the Justice Department to provide an update on its efforts to combat and pursue COVID-19 relief stolen by transnational and state-sponsored organizations. A recent report reveals tens of billions of pandemic unemployment benefits were obtained by foreign adversaries, including China and Russia.\n\n\u201cThe theft of up to $280 billion in unemployment benefits due to fraudulent activity by foreign adversaries and criminals is a major scandal and a breach of our national security. To put this number in perspective, the amount of pandemic relief money lost to fraud over the past 18 months is the same as we spent on the Apollo program over 13 years to put men on the moon. Where possible, the perpetrators of these crimes should be tracked down and prosecuted, and those who negligently allowed this fraud, waste, and abuse to happen must be held accountable for betraying American taxpayers\u2019 trust. Our government simply must instill stronger oversight into distribution of tax dollars. This is unacceptable and the American people deserve better,\u201d said Rep. Franklin.\n\nAccording to a recent report, 40 percent or more of the $700 billion spent on pandemic-related unemployment benefits went to fraud. This includes $175 billion to transnational actors with $140 billion of that\u201420 percent of the overall amount spent by the U.S. government\u2014going to state-sponsored entities. The Department of Justice recently told Republican committee staff it has charged nearly $1 billion in intended loss of COVID-19 relief to fraud, but based on estimates, this means there are still hundreds of billions in unidentified loss. The Justice Department also refused to share how many active cases involve transnational organizations or state-sponsored organizations.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that tens of billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen by foreign adversaries. Americans\u2019 hard-earned money shouldn\u2019t be lining the pockets of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and their cronies who are opposed to our interests. The Justice Department must provide us with answers about how it plans to combat and prosecute these crimes. For nearly a year I\u2019ve sounded the alarm about massive fraud in pandemic unemployment benefits, but Oversight Committee Democrats have refused to hold a single hearing on this gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. The mission of the Oversight Committee is to root out waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the federal government and Republicans will continue working to ensure safeguards are in place to protect taxpayers,\u201d said Ranking Member James Comer.\n\nIn their letter to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the Task Force to Combat COVID-19 Fraud Lead, the Republican lawmakers request a briefing to better understand the Justice Department\u2019s efforts to combat transnational and state-sponsored COVID-19 related fraud schemes. Ranking Member Comer and Republican lawmakers previously called on Chairwoman Maloney (D-N.Y.) to hold a hearing on massive pandemic unemployment fraud, but she has refused.\n\nThe full letter can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=5C38B7E9-E8E9-4A93-A78F-FCED60DC8FE8", "McConnell Denounces Sham Trial and Sham Sentence for Aung San Suu Kyi", "2021-12-06", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement this morning regarding the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi:\n\n\u201cI strongly condemn the sham trial and the sham sentence that Burma\u2019s illegitimate, unelected military junta has imposed on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.\n\n\u201cDaw Suu Kyi\u2019s so-called \u2018trial\u2019 was a farce. The proceedings had zero transparency. Her lawyers were silenced. This is not about COVID regulations, walkie talkies, or any of the other absurd pretexts. The junta simply wanted to keep the last leader the Burmese people elected for themselves off the streets, so they disregarded the rule of law and did so. This is the same shameless tyranny with which the junta imprisoned countless citizens of Burma, two American journalists, Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, and is still holding the Australian economist Sean Turnell behind bars.\n\n\u201cThe junta is flailing because they are frightened by what they see. Burma\u2019s ethnic minorities, so often divided by their differences, have been coming together and standing behind the National Unity Government\u2019s opposition to illegitimate military rule \u2014 even despite the regime\u2019s escalating repression and violence against the people.\n\n\u201cNow more than ever, the United States and friends of democracy worldwide must continue to pressure the junta. As Congress works our way through the National Defense Authorization Act, I have added a bipartisan amendment that will ensure our Administration articulates and then advances a real strategy to hold the regime accountable and support democratic actors like the National Unity Government.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=704A5087-C3A3-4CF4-BBAF-8A5F3B8BE2F5", "President Biden Must Get Tough in Tuesday Call with Putin", "2021-12-06", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding foreign policy:\n\n\u201cLast week brought new information about Russia\u2019s military activities along its border with Ukraine. Heavily armed ground forces are mobilizing by the tens of thousands. It\u2019s looking more and more like Vladimir Putin intends to redraw another border by force.\n\n\u201cThe escalation of Putin\u2019s ongoing war against Ukraine is an immediate threat to Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and to the security of its people. But as always with Putin, it\u2019s also a test with much broader consequences. Can aggressive powers violate sovereign countries without facing serious consequence?\n\n\u201cFellow authoritarians in Beijing and Tehran will be watching how the free world responds. And President Biden has an opportunity to set the tone when he speaks with Putin tomorrow.\n\n\u201cThe stakes for the President\u2019s call with Putin couldn\u2019t be clearer. We know what happens when the United States fails to engage with Russia from a position of strength. We know what weakness and capitulation get us.\n\n\u201cRemember how President Obama treated arms controls and Europe-based missile defense as negotiable items that could be traded away in exchange for Moscow\u2019s goodwill.\n\n\u201cRemember how he mocked Republicans \u2013 perhaps most notably our colleague, Senator Romney \u2013 who dared to suggest that we ought to take the threat of a revanchist Russia seriously.\n\n\u201cRemember the cuts to defense spending.\n\n\u201cRemember the dithering over whether to provide meaningful capabilities to Ukraine when Putin first invaded\u2026 And how useless our blankets and MREs were against Russian armor and Moscow-trained little green men.\n\n\u201cThis weakness didn\u2019t purchase a \u2018Reset\u2019. It produced a more emboldened Russia, willing to engage in more repression at home and more aggression abroad.\n\n\u201cAnd here we are today.\n\n\u201cVladimir Putin is gearing up to escalate his violation of Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty. And if the free world doesn\u2019t object, there\u2019s no reason to assume he\u2019ll stop there.\n\n\u201cSo tomorrow, President Biden has both the opportunity and responsibility to tell Russia, and Ukraine, and our allies in Europe that the United States cares about sovereign borders and will help its friends protect them.\n\n\u201cIf the free world is serious, its leaders \u2013 first and foremost, the President of the United States \u2013 will leave Putin no room to doubt that Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty is inviolable. And by extension, they will signal to Chairman Xi that similar prospecting in the Pacific will come with prohibitive costs.\n\n\u201cIf our leaders do not defend a fundamental tenet of the international order, we cannot be surprised by the chaos that will follow.\n\n\u201cSo if President Biden is serious, he will convince Germany\u2019s new government to abandon the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and instead try to reduce its dependence on the resources that enrich Putin and his cronies and give Moscow leverage over Europe.\n\n\u201cIf the President intends to learn from the past and actually help Ukraine defend itself, he should expeditiously provide weapon systems that will materially help Ukraine defend itself, including against air threats.\n\n\u201cFinally, for the United States to lead the world\u2019s response to authoritarian aggression, I hope President Biden will call on our allies to do more to contribute to our collective security.\n\n\u201cIn Europe, NATO member states must treat their own military modernization as a top priority. And in the Indo-Pacific, our friends in Taiwan and elsewhere must commit the resources, training, and reforms needed to help them face down their own looming threats.\n\n\u201cTomorrow\u2019s call must mark a turning point for the Biden Administration\u2019s approach to major power competition \u2014 from one where its words are pinned on hopes to one where its words and backed by strength.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=88B5C40A-16FB-4B38-9AAC-5FCF30E4FCB4", "McConnell Remarks Honoring Sen. Bob Dole", "2021-12-06", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the passing of former Senator Bob Dole:\n\n\u201cIt is hard to believe it\u2019s been 25 years since Senator Robert J. Dole took leave of the Senate. It\u2019s even harder to believe he passed away this past weekend.\n\n\u201cNot because it comes as a shock to say goodbye to an elder statesman at age 98\u2026 but because our colleague was still so energetic, so involved, and so forward-looking, right through to his final months.\n\n\u201cIf you didn\u2019t know Bob Dole, if you just read a summary \u2014 of his impressive Senate career, his leadership tenure, his presidential campaign \u2014 he might sound like a man of contrasts.\n\n\u201cOn one hand, our friend from Kansas preached conservative values: personal responsibility and fiscal discipline. But this son of the Dust Bowl and wounded warrior was also laser-focused on caring for the most vulnerable, notching landmark wins on subjects from food insecurity to veterans\u2019 issues to the rights of disabled Americans.\n\n\u201cOn one hand, Senator Dole took pride in our Republican Party. He rose to key roles that were necessarily somewhat partisan, first leading our Senate Republican Conference for many years and then leading a presidential ticket. But he was also a consensus-finding legislator, an honest broker with deep friendships and working relationships that spanned the aisle.\n\n\u201cOn one hand, our colleague was earnest, unironic, and somewhat serious \u2014 a true Greatest Generation Midwesterner. But he also wielded a charming, disarming, and self-deprecating sense of humor, whether he was cracking one-liners, often at his own expense, or doing a joint appearance with his comic impersonator.\n\n\u201cAllow me just one example of Bob Dole\u2019s comedic talent.\n\n\u201cIn January of 1997, just after President Clinton had defeated Bob and won his re-election, the President graciously bestowed on Bob the Presidential Medal of Freedom.\n\n\u201cThere they were, in mid-January, just three days before the day Bob had spent months hoping he\u2019d be inaugurated, but President Clinton would be re-inaugurated instead. It was a gracious gesture and a warm event all around.\n\n\u201cThe time comes for Bob\u2019s remarks. He walks to the podium. Looks around. And he begins:\n\n\u201c\u2018I, Robert J. Dole\u2026\u2019 The crowd is already cracking up.\n\n\u201c\u2018Do solemnly swear\u2026\u2019 Then a theatrical pause.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, sorry \u2013 wrong speech!\u2019\n\n\u201cOnce the laughs began to die down, there came the self-deprecating punchline: \u2018I thought I\u2019d be here this historic week receiving something from the President. But I thought it\u2019d be the front door key!\u2019\n\n***\n\n\u201cThe thing is, Madam President, there was no contradiction in any of it. No paradox. Bob\u2019s life and career were very consistent.\n\n\u201cThe virtues and the values that led Bob Dole to raise his right hand, enlist in the Army, and fight bravely until he could not raise that hand any longer\u2026 were the same virtues and values that compelled him to raise his left hand for a different oath in the Kansas State Capitol a few years later.\n\n\u201cAnd then across the Rotunda in the U.S. House. And then here in the Senate.\n\n\u201cThe same virtues and values that animated Bob\u2019s passionate, pointed speeches in the 1960s about a citizen\u2019s duty animated his great empathy towards those who needed help.\n\n\u201cWith Bob Dole, what you saw was what you got. And from his comrades in the 10th Mountain Division\u2026 to his constituents in Kansas\u2026 to the whole Senate and the entire country\u2026 what we got was extraordinary.\n\n\u201cI cannot summarize in one speech the full life or legacy of our friend Bob. There are the battlefield heroics\u2026 the hospital-bed friendship with fellow future Senators Phil Hart and \u2018the best bridge player at Percy Jones Hospital,\u2019 Dan Inouye\u2026 There\u2019s the policy legacy that endures to this day.\n\n\u201cThese remembrances will take Congress this whole week. And they\u2019ll occupy historians for decades to come.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBob Dole had the same chief hero for his entire adult life: His fellow son of Kansas, a General and then a President, Dwight Eisenhower.\n\n\u201cBob didn\u2019t just like Ike, he idolized him. In Senator Dole\u2019s Senate farewell speech in 1996, he saved the second-to-last quotation for his hero from Abilene, Kansas. He kept his foot personally on the gas pedal for the Eisenhower Memorial here in Washington well into his nineties. He invoked and praised Ike constantly throughout his career.\n\n\u201cOne such occasion was in late 1979. An event was held at Eisenhower\u2019s boyhood home, presidential library, and gravesite in Abilene, on what would have been his 89th birthday. It so happened that only a couple weeks later, Mrs. Eisenhower would pass away and be laid to rest there as well.\n\n\u201cOn that day, Senator Dole explained that America had gotten \u2018lucky.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhy? Because \u2014 quote \u2014 \u2018when we were thirsty for leadership, we turned to a man from Kansas, a genuine hero who embodied in his own life the finest qualities of the American people\u2026\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018\u2026A man from grassroots America, steeped in the traditions of neighborhood and patriotism and service\u2026 A strong man who earned his strength in war, yet never forgot the disease of poverty or the scourge of personal suffering.\u2019\n\n\u201cBob was always eloquent, and those lines of his certainly did describe Ike. But now that our friend\u2019s 98 amazing years have come to a close, we can say with certainty that Eisenhower isn\u2019t the only Kansan who meets those standards.\n\n\u201cNot only General Eisenhower, but also Second Lieutenant Robert J. Dole himself, was a genuine hero from Kansas\u2026 who helped satisfy a nation\u2019s thirst for leadership\u2026\n\n\u201cWho was steeped in homespun American values and proud of it\u2026 Who\u2019d fought with great courage and valor on the battlefield\u2026 And whose concern for the most vulnerable in our society came right with him into the halls of power.\n\n***\n\n\u201cI mentioned that Eisenhower was Bob\u2019s second-to-last quotation in his farewell remarks to the Senate. I want to close today where he closed 25 years ago.\n\n\u201cMusing on both his past and his future, our colleague\u2019s final quote was from the Midwestern poet Carl Sandburg: \u2018Yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the West. I tell you that there is nothing in the world, only an ocean for tomorrows, a sky of tomorrow.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow, for our remarkable friend, the sun of this world has set at last.\n\n\u201cBut we pray in faith that he now beholds an even brighter light. That the endless ocean of tomorrows now stretches before him.\n\n\u201cThe entire Senate sends our prayers to Elizabeth and Robin, and to so many family, friends, and former staff of Senator Dole.\n\n\u201cThe whole country stands with you \u2014 not only in grief, but in gladness and thanksgiving, for almost a century that was lived so patriotically, so gratefully, and so well.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D9C7A716-ED12-4879-B850-2DB0787FCF01", "Senator Bob Dole", "2021-12-05", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today on the passing of former Senator Bob Dole:\n\n\u201cElaine and I join the nation in mourning Bob Dole, our good friend and a bona fide American hero.\n\n\u201cBob\u2019s lifetime of service was rooted in a simple mission: looking out for his neighbors. At first that meant serving his customers at a soda fountain in Russell, Kansas. Then it meant heroic, decorated service with the Army\u2019s 10th Mountain Division in World War II; brutal fighting from which Bob barely made it home. And then came a remarkable career in public service, capped off by nearly 30 years in the U.S. Senate and more than a decade as Republican Leader.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans and the entire Senate were better off for Bob\u2019s stewardship. But more importantly, his beloved Kansas and the entire nation reaped huge rewards from his service. Bob was a steady leader and a legislative master. He unlocked both conservative victories and big bipartisan achievements. His Dust Bowl roots fueled a special commitment to vulnerable Americans, and sure enough, Bob\u2019s work on food security, veterans\u2019 issues, and the rights of disabled Americans have continued to have an especially lasting impact.\n\n\u201cWhatever their politics, anyone who saw Bob Dole in action had to admire his character and his profound patriotism. Those of us who were lucky to know Bob well ourselves admired him even more. A bright light of patriotic good cheer burned all the way from Bob\u2019s teenage combat heroics through his whole career in Washington through the years since. It still shone brightly, undimmed, to his last days.\n\n\u201cBob Dole lived the kind of full, rich, and deeply honorable American life that will be impossible for any tribute today to fully capture. As we mourn this most distinguished American son, we send our sincerest condolences to Elizabeth, Robin, and the entire Dole family.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-honors-imogenes-alterations-bowling-green-kentucky-us-senate-small-business-week/", "Dr. Rand Paul Honors Imogene\u2019s Alterations of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week", "2021-12-03", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 3, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, recognized Imogene\u2019s Alterations of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week.\n\nDr. Paul entered the following into the Congressional Record:\n\nMr. PAUL. Mr. President, as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, each week I recognize an outstanding Kentucky small business that exemplifies the American entrepreneurial spirit. This week, it is my privilege to recognize Imogene\u2019s Alterations of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as the Senate Small Business of the Week.\n\nLocated on Nutwood Street, Imogene\u2019s Alterations has served Bowling Green, Kentucky for over 20 years. Imogene Garmon, a longtime Bowling Green resident, embarked on her first career in the grocery sector. After 33 years working at the Kroger meat counter, she was ready for a new challenge. A self-taught seamstress, Imogene began selling fabric and doing minor alterations after leaving Kroger. Seeing a business opportunity, Imogene went on to establish a fabric shop. She thrived as a small business owner, serving the greater Bowling Green community. Word spread quickly of Imogene\u2019s talent as a seamstress. Request for alterations poured in, including everything from everyday clothing to suits and ball gowns. To meet the demand, Imogene decided to focus solely on alterations. She established Imogene\u2019s Alterations, providing full-time alterations for men and women\u2019s clothing.\n\nToday, Imogene\u2019s Alterations continues providing alterations for all types of events and special occasions. This woman-owned business has grown along with the area, moving into its current location at Nutwood Street about twenty years ago. Customers are welcomed by name, and treated like family. At 88 years old, Imogene continues to be involved in every aspect of her business. From operating the store to sewing alterations, her care and attention to detail are evident in her work. Her strong sense of family has built a tight-knit, supportive team.\n\nLike many entrepreneurs, Imogene established a successful business while building community. As a mother, grandmother, and aunt, Imogene raised and continues to mentor generations of her family. Remarkably, Imogene founded Imogene\u2019s Alterations in her 60s. It took innovation and courage to pursue her goal, switching from the grocery industry which she knew well, to the tailoring sector.\n\nImogene\u2019s Alterations is a remarkable example of the resilience and adaptability of locally-owned small businesses. Small businesses like Imogene\u2019s Alterations form the heart of cities and towns across Kentucky. Congratulations to Imogene and the entire team at Imogene\u2019s Alterations. I wish them the best of luck, and I look forward to watching their continued growth and success in Kentucky.\n\nAs Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Paul continues the tradition of honoring America\u2019s small businesses and entrepreneurs. The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship oversees proposed legislation on matters relating to the Small Business Administration and investigates all problems relating to America\u2019s small businesses.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=9A8D072F-76BC-4E69-A01E-CE18CBDBBD04", "Congressman Rogers Votes Against Democrats' Misguided Short-Term Spending Bill", "2021-12-02", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Washington Democrats passed a second short-term appropriations bill, only funding the federal government through February 18. The first stop-gap measure was passed in late September. The bill pushes the December 3 deadline to February 18, and did not include an effort by House and Senate Republicans to defund President Biden's court embattled vaccine mandates.\n\n\"We have worked on federal funding bills all year, but because Washington Democrats refuse to come to the table to negotiate government funding, here we are in another crunch to ensure government operations continue. While we all want to avoid a government shutdown, these short-term spending bills leave out a lot of unmet needs across the country,\" said Congressman Rogers, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. \"Washington Democrats' misguided priorities have left us without a comprehensive deal to fully fund the 2022 fiscal year. Instead, they are focused on finding a path forward for their multi-trillion dollar socialist agenda and funding President Biden's vaccine mandates, some of which have already been blocked in federal court. I call on Democrats to come to the table so we can end these short-term spending bills and fully fund the government for 2022.\u201d\n\nThe bill now moves to the Senate for consideration before current government funding expires at midnight on December 3.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A07ADC59-3BDD-483C-9E40-B7813CAF528A", "Democrats\u2019 Reckless Taxing and Spending Spree Stuffed With Absurd Waste and Political Payoffs", "2021-12-02", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cTwo thirds of Americans are worried about inflation.\n\n\u201cAbout half of the middle class and 70 percent of low-income families just told Gallup that rising prices have been a personal hardship for their households.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why 67% of the American people say that Washington needs to \u2018cut back on spending and printing money.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut here in Washington D.C., Democrats are bound and determined to do just the opposite. They want to try the crazy strategy of inflating their way out of inflation. Another massive, reckless taxing and spending spree.\n\n\u201cEven the most generous estimates, when the CBO has to swallow all of Democrats\u2019 accounting gimmicks at face value, still say their proposal would entail $800 billion in new deficit spending over the next five years alone.\n\n\u201cOutside experts who are allowed to reject Democrats\u2019 obvious budget gimmicks find the real cost of their bill would actually be close to $5 trillion dollars, and after a decade, it would increase deficits by $2.8 trillion dollars.\n\n\u201cBut the reckless price tag isn\u2019t the only problem. What is remarkable is that the Democrats want to spend all these trillions but not leave citizens with any impressive, enduring new national project in return.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no Hoover Dam, Interstate Highway System, or moon landing on the other side of their mountains of borrowed money. Nothing like that.\n\n\u201cJust a giant catalog of socialist mediocrity \u2014 new entitlements here, new transfer programs there, new ways to let bureaucrats run families\u2019 lives, and shameless goodies for specific interest groups who support the political left.\n\n\u201cA giant muddled mess that would leave families with fewer childcare choices and higher costs\u2026 with fewer new prescription drugs and cures\u2026 with higher prices for less reliable energy\u2026\n\n\u201cA reckless taxing and spending spree that hurts American families and helps China.\n\n***\n\n\u201cThere are a lot of big, sweeping, radical changes in their proposal that would change families\u2019 lives dramatically and for the worse.\n\n\u201cBut in between the sweeping wish-fulfillment for people who call themselves \u2018democratic socialists,\u2019 there is also a remarkable amount of pure waste, absurd little giveaways, and interest group goodies.\n\n\u201cA billion here, a billion there, and hope the American people won\u2019t notice if it\u2019s buried in enough bureaucratic gibberish.\n\n\u201cHere are just a few examples.\n\n\u201cThis bill would supply billions of dollars to help colleges and universities indoctrinate college students with even more left-wing propaganda\u2026\n\n\u201c\u2026 And billions more to give them made-up Potemkin jobs in a make-work program they\u2019re calling a \u2018Civilian Climate Corps.\u2019 This at a time when industries already cannot find workers.\n\n\u201cTheir bill would set aside multiple billions of dollars to put federal government employees like IRS agents and postal carriers into brand-new electric vehicles.\n\n\u201cEarlier this year, the Biden Administration made sure that luxury Teslas with a sticker price of up to $97,000 were on the list for government procurement.\n\n\u201cSo working families might be having to choose between heating costs and new shoes for the kids, but don\u2019t worry, Democrats will make sure IRS auditors can cruise around in Silicon Valley\u2019s finest.\n\n\u201cTheir proposal would create a huge $29 billion slush fund that activists are applauding as the foundation for something called \u2018a national green bank.\u2019 Can you say Solyndra on steroids?\n\n\u201cAn entire government bank to finance pipe dreams that can\u2019t earn support in the real economy.\n\n\u201cSeparately, they\u2019re planning to spend multiple billions of taxpayer dollars for something the liberals are calling \u2018tree equity.\u2019 I\u2019ll let that one speak for itself.\n\n\u201cOf course, Madam President, the Green New Deal folks aren\u2019t the only constituency Democrats want to pay off.\n\n\u201cThis reckless taxing and spending spree is also designed to knock out all their Christmas shopping for trial lawyers, Big Labor bosses, Ivy League administrators, and blue-state millionaires, all in one fell swoop!\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s the state-and-local tax carveout, the SALT gimmick, that would give an extra tax cut to two thirds of the households making a million dollars or more a year.\n\n\u201cPerhaps to make sure these reckless policies get good press, Democrats have included a $1.6 billion bailout for the news media. I\u2019m not making this up. We are essentially talking about government welfare for newsrooms.\n\n\u201cIt goes on and on.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a new special tax break for rich universities\u2019 massive endowments\u2026\n\n\u201cHundreds of millions of dollars to overhaul kids\u2019 school lunch menus, including making sure they are, \u2018culturally appropriate.\u2019 I guess they want to make sure that children\u2019s cafeteria trays are sufficiently woke.\n\n\u201cAnd goodness knows they couldn\u2019t skip over Big Labor. So the Democrats\u2019 plan would let working Americans\u2019 above-the-line tax deduction for charitable contributions expire \u2014 that goes away \u2014 but they\u2019d replace it with a brand-new deduction that only applies to union dues.\n\n\u201cAnd then there is pure pork of the old-school kind.\n\n\u201cThe Speaker of the House tried to sneak in hundreds of millions of dollars for a special park in San Francisco.\n\n\u201cAnd the Senate Democratic Leader has spent months trying to double the bill\u2019s funding for public housing so the chronically mismanaged authority in his hometown could get $40 billion federal dollars to clean up its messes.\n\n\u201cThere is even what appears to be a $33 million kickback that is largely for one Democratic congressman whose vote Speaker Pelosi had to lock down. Out of nowhere, one mostly dormant government commission that is important to this Democrat\u2019s district gets a funding increase of 13,000%.\n\n\u201cYou heard that right: A funding increase of thirteen thousand percent. What a terrific coincidence for this one Democratic House member.\n\n\u201cSo take a step back. Our colleagues\u2019 proposal isn\u2019t some big national leap into the 21st century. It is an endless hodge-podge of this nonsense.\n\n\u201cPartisan back-scratching, interest group giveaways, and shameless waste.\n\n\u201cAnd through tax hikes and inflation, working American families will foot the bill.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=B5B75FCB-341E-41B3-8067-8B4FF01EF50D", "Reps Barr and Levin Partner on Bipartisan Bill to Restore Education Benefits to Veterans", "2021-12-01", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Today, U.S. Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY) and Mike Levin (D-CA) introduced bipartisan legislation to extend the amount of time certain veterans can utilize their GI Bill education benefits. Earlier this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) restored GI Bill entitlements for veterans who previously used Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) benefits. However, the VA did not extend the expiration date for these benefits, meaning some veterans received more months of GI Bill entitlements than they had time to use before the expiration date.\n\nTo resolve this discrepancy, Rep. Barr and Rep. Levin are leading the More Opportunities for Veterans Education (MOVE) Act. This legislation will provide eligible veterans with sufficient time to use their restored GI Bill benefits by extending their expiration dates and requiring the VA to notify all veterans affected.\n\n\u201cWe must ensure that veterans who served our country have access to the entirety of their education benefits earned through the Post 9/11 GI Bill,\u201d said Rep. Barr. \u201cOur bill is a straightforward legislative fix to achieve just that. This legislation will help veterans obtain skills, training and educational benefits to further their post-service success. It is great to partner with Representative Levin on this bill, and I will keep working to get his bipartisan bill signed into law.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad the VA restored GI Bill entitlements for many veterans who have taken advantage of Veteran Readiness and Employment benefits, but we must extend the expiration date to use those benefits so eligible veterans can take full advantage of them,\u201d said Rep. Levin. \u201cI\u2019ve heard of veterans at Saddleback College and other local institutions who need this extension to make the most of their restored GI Bill benefits, and I\u2019m proud to introduce this legislation on their behalf. I appreciate Congressman Barr\u2019s partnership on this commonsense bill and I\u2019m hopeful we can advance it through the House soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently changed its interpretation of the \u201848-month rule\u2019, allowing student veterans to use their Vocational Readiness & Employment (VR&E) benefits up to its cap before using any other education benefit up to its own, separate cap,\u201d said Justin Monk, Policy Associate at Student Veterans of America. \u201cIn addition, VA also restored entitlement to veterans who were previously denied the correct amount of time to use their benefits. Unfortunately, thousands of veterans receiving these restored benefits have fewer months until their delimiting dates than the number of months they had restored. The More Opportunities for Veterans Education (MOVE) Act provides an intelligent, common-sense solution by extending the timeframe during which any eligible student veteran with restored entitlement can utilize those benefits. SVA is grateful to Chairman Levin for his leadership on this issue, and we hope to see swift passage of this bill through the House and Senate.\u201d\n\n\u201cRecently, a policy change refunded Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to veterans who relinquished them to participate in VA\u2019s Veterans Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program. However, many veterans who served prior to \u201cForever GI Bill\u201d have already passed the delimiting date that allows them to use these entitlements. The MOVE act is a commonsense solution to this problem. It requires the VA to inform veterans of this change and provides them with an extended amount of time to use the benefits they\u2019ve earned. In today\u2019s job market, continuing education is vital for career advancement. It also a great tool for personal and intellectual growth. Congressman Barr has once again shown why veterans of all political persuasions appreciate his leadership. His bipartisan efforts with Congressman Mike Levin ensures that veterans who served during the early days of the Global War on Terror will have access to the benefits they have earned,\u201d Dr. Travis Martin, Director, Kentucky Center for Veterans Studies and who is a U.S. Army Veteran.\n\nSpecifically, the MOVE Act would apply to veterans who, as of April 1, 2021, did not have at least 12 months in addition to the number of months the VA restored in GI Bill benefits until their expiration date. The bill would ensure these individuals have 12 months plus the number of restored months until the window to use their benefits expires, also known as the delimiting date. This 12-month cushion would ensure veterans have ample time to plan for their education, apply for a program, enroll, and begin class. The bill also requires VA to notify all covered veterans of their new delimiting date within 30 days of enactment.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=97AAA4A6-AC5F-4332-BEFA-2F35B07D1A29", "Democrats\u2019 Reckless Taxing and Spending Spree Would Worsen Families\u2019 Existing Problems", "2021-12-01", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cInflation is hammering working families from coast to coast, but Democrats want to print, borrow, and spend trillions more.\n\n\u201cOur economy is already sputtering on their watch, but Democrats want to wallop the country with massive tax hikes that would kill American jobs and discourage industry from locating in the U.S.A.\n\n\u201cEverybody with a lick of common sense knows the massive, reckless taxing and spending spree that Democrats are writing behind closed doors is crazy.\n\n\u201cA supermajority of Americans, 67%, say that \u2018inflation and rising costs\u2019 are \u2018harm[ing] everyone in the country\u2019 and \u2018government should cut back on spending and printing money\u2019 as a result.\n\n\u201cTwo in three Americans want Washington Democrats to step back from the precipice. An overwhelming consensus. But a few loud voices on the far left are yelling at Democrats to ignore the people\u2026 and take the plunge.\n\n\u201cThe sheer financial cost of what Democrats want to do to our country is jaw-dropping.\n\n\u201cEven when the Congressional Budget Office had to swallow all the Democrats\u2019 budget gimmicks and fuzzy math at face value, they still found that their reckless taxing and spending spree would add $800 billion to the deficit in the next five years. Another $800 billion in deficit spending during a time of inflation.\n\n\u201cBut even that almost certainly undershoots it.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 legislation pretends that liberals will let all these huge new entitlements expire after a few years. It\u2019s a total accounting fiction. They are marketing these new welfare programs as moral imperatives. Democrats don\u2019t want them to expire. But they draft bills with these fake expiration dates to make it appear like it costs less.\n\n\u201cOutside experts have tried to estimate the real cost of the bill, if all these new welfare entitlements didn\u2019t magically fall away after a few years. They say the bill would actually cost double what Democrats say and leave us with $2.8 trillion in new debt.\n\n\u201cLet me repeat that. Nonpartisan experts who look past the Democrats\u2019 fictional accounting and fake assumptions find this bill would add $2.8 trillion to the deficit.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s how you risk turning a couple years of inflation into a full-on lost decade.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBut the problem with their reckless taxing and spending spree is not just the price tag.\n\n\u201cIt is not the case that Democrats have cooked up a great list of investments that would strengthen America, but we just can\u2019t afford it at this particular moment.\n\n\u201cNo, our colleagues want to ram through a far-left wish list that would hurt families and help China.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no grand national project waiting on the other side of all these trillions. No 21st century version of the Hoover Dam or the Interstate Highway System or the Space Race. Nothing to really make us proud.\n\n\u201cJust a mediocre assortment of new welfare programs, new transfers, and new bureaucratic power grabs.\n\n\u201cAnd somehow it all seems tailor-made to take existing problems in our country and make them worse. Take, for example, the nationwide labor shortage facing our economy right now:\n\n\u201cOne of the most vocal of the House\u2019s self-styled democratic socialists said last year that, even after workplaces were once again safe, people should simply refuse to go back to work.\n\n\u201cForget science, forget economic recovery, \u2018just say \u2018no\u2019.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, this spring, the far left got their wish: a massive, unnecessary spending package that stunted our comeback and literally paid people to stay on the sidelines. By summertime, unfilled positions were setting new all-time highs.\n\n\u201cAnd yet Washington Democrats now want to double down with a plan that would shatter a decades-old consensus about the link between welfare and work.\n\n\u201cThey want to massively expand access to welfare \u2013 including to people in this country illegally \u2013 by hijacking the child tax credit that was designed for working families with actual tax liabilities.\n\n\u201cOr look at the ongoing obsession with Green New Deal policies.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s cave to the far left\u2019s climate agenda started on Day One: Cancelling American jobs and the Keystone XL pipeline and freezing exploration on new sources of domestic energy.\n\n\u201cLast year, the United States was a net energy exporter. Now, on Democrats\u2019 watch, we\u2019ve doubled our imports of Russian oil. And American households are staring down an historic spike in home heating costs.\n\n\u201cWas it time to pump the brakes on green radicalism? Not if you ask Washington Democrats. Their reckless taxing and spending spree would heap a fresh batch of fees and mandates on producers of the most affordable domestic energy while showering incentives on the pricey and unreliable alternatives blue-state liberals prefer.\n\n\u201cPouring government subsidies into \u2018green\u2019 pet projects like electric cars and solar panels would mean handing a massive windfall to Chinese producers that dominate the markets for a slew of the rare earth materials these products require. Hurts families; helps China.\n\n\u201cLook at education. The same Democrats who let their Big Labor benefactors rob kids of in-person schooling are now letting the Biden Justice Department scrutinize parents who dare to question woke propaganda.\n\n\u201cTheir reckless taxing and spending spree would go even further to take power and control away from parents. Democrats want to bring even more of kids\u2019 learning, down to pre-K, under the thumb of woke bureaucrats and Big Labor.\n\n\u201cAnd even prior to pre-K, Democrats have cooked up a crazy new labyrinth of regulations and subsidies and mandates for daycare. President Biden and Speaker Pelosi want to tell the American people how to raise their kids and how to structure their private family arrangements.\n\n\u201cThese liberals want to take families\u2019 most personal life decisions and have Washington pick winners and losers.\n\n\u201cThe cost of childcare would actually be driven up.\n\n\u201cFamilies who\u2019ve made different sets of sacrifices to have a parent or grandparent raise their young kids would get nothing.\n\n\u201cMany Americans\u2019 faith-based providers would be intentionally shut out from important funding. And the culture-warrior Secretary Becerra would call the shots.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s like I said, Mr. President: The actual substance of their bill is as awful as the price tag.\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 plan wouldn\u2019t just waste trillions and exacerbate inflation. It would also make American families lives\u2019 considerably worse.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1B6523EC-AC26-4541-B8ED-1381BD6516DB", "Another Reckless Taxing and Spending Spree Would Pour \u201cJet Fuel\u201d on Inflation", "2021-11-30", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201c88 percent of Americans are concerned about inflation. Most of them are \u2018very concerned.\u2019\n\n\u201c77 percent of Americans say inflation has affected them personally.\n\n\u201cWe have a big and diverse country. It\u2019s hard to get that many Americans to agree on anything.\n\n\u201cBut President Biden did promise he would unite the country. And on Democrats\u2019 watch, under Democrats\u2019 policies, the American people are united in their fear and frustration at runaway prices, falling purchasing power, and all the consequences of inflation.\n\n\u201cThe men and women of this country are spending 20% more than last year for beef at the grocery store. 50% more to fill up at the gas station. 26% more for far less choice in used cars.\n\n\u201cOne recent article in the New York Times suggested that perhaps Americans should forget about trying to buy their family members normal gifts and settle for exchanging hand-written promises to tackle household chores such as \u2018washing out the reusable plastic bags.\u2019 I guess the Grinch is doing some ghostwriting in his spare time.\n\n\u201cSome weeks back, the White House press secretary tried to laugh off reporters\u2019 questions about the supply chain and inflation crises. She laughed at the idea that anybody would be worried about, \u2018the tragedy of the treadmill that\u2019s delayed.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe president\u2019s staff are yukking it up. But working parents aren\u2019t laughing. Middle-class families aren\u2019t laughing.\n\n\u201cA Kentuckian named Mike Halligan isn\u2019t laughing either. He runs a big food bank in Lexington called God\u2019s Pantry. They distribute more than 40 million pounds of food every year to local food pantries across Kentucky.\n\n\u201cHe says: \u2018We\u2019ve seen the cost of our \u2018sharing Thanksgiving basket\u2019 go up this year by 14.5 percent\u2026 We\u2019ve seen our costs go up by about 50 percent. The transportation component of that is literally doubled.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd he also explained that since inflation is also hammering his contributors, charities and nonprofits may face \u2018donor fatigue\u2019 at precisely the time they cannot afford a fall-off. The Democrats\u2019 inflation is hitting every part of our society.\n\n***\n\n\u201cA famous economist once said that inflation is the only form of tax that can be levied without any legislation. But what\u2019s remarkable about 2021 is that Democrats did directly legislate a big chunk of this inflation into existence!\n\n\u201cIt is unusually traceable to deliberate policy decisions they have made.\n\n\u201cOne of the most famous Democratic economists in the country, Larry Summers, tried to warn them.\n\n\u201cOn February 4th he wrote the Democrats\u2019 stimulus could, \u2018set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.\u2019 He said the same thing all springtime long.\n\n\u201cSo did President Obama\u2019s CEA chair. Quote: \u2018Jason Furman\u2026said that the American Rescue Plan is definitely \u2018too big for the moment,\u2019 stating: \u2018I don\u2019t know of any economist that was recommending something the size of what was done.\u2019\u2019\n\n\u201cBut Washington Democrats had already decided months ago they\u2019d try to use the temporary pandemic as a Trojan horse for permanent socialism.\n\n\u201cRemember last spring, when one of the seniormost House Democrats called it, \u2018a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.\u2019 Or earlier this fall, when President Biden, himself, said the pandemic, \u2018does present us with an opportunity.\u2019\n\n\u201cFor Democrats, this go-around, it has never been about what families need. It has only been about what activists want.\n\n\u201cSo we got the first massive spending bill in the springtime. And now, a majority of Americans \u2018worry they won\u2019t be able to afford what they need during the holidays due to inflation.\u2019\n\n\u201cPresident Biden inherited an economy that was primed and ready for an historic comeback. A fantastic inheritance. Since then they\u2019ve had less than a year at the controls. And we\u2019ve got more than half the country actively worried their checking accounts might not even get them through the holidays.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBut Democrats aren\u2019t offering the country any contrition, any apology, or any course-correction.\n\n\u201cAmazingly enough, they want to come back around for an even bigger bite at the apple. They want to try to inflate their way out of inflation.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues have spent months huddled behind closed doors, neglecting the most basic governing duties, writing another reckless taxing and spending spree that even the most conservative estimates say would add about $800 billion to deficits over the next five years alone.\n\n\u201cThey want to take the inflationary fire they helped start and pour jet fuel on it. Even the CBO, which has to swallow most of Democrats\u2019 gimmicky math, estimates this bill would spend nearly $2 trillion dollars and pile hundreds of billions more onto deficits over the next decade.\n\n\u201cPerhaps more realistic are the outside, nonpartisan estimates that actually account for what we all know: Democrats would never let the new entitlements in their bill expire. These more realistic estimates put the total cost just shy of $5 trillion dollars.\n\n\u201cAll at a time when Chairman Powell, who has been willing to let the economy run hot, is now warning that current uncertainties could keep inflation elevated to a troubling level.\n\n\u201cNow, I could talk all day about how the actual contents of this bill would hurt American families even more.\n\n\u201cAbout how it would take another big step toward socialized medicine and pour cold water on the innovations and cures that save lives\u2026\n\n\u201cHow it would incinerate huge chunks of our energy sector, and the jobs it supports, in order to keep pace with the green preferences of California liberals\u2026\n\n\u201cHow it would wrestle authority over intimate decisions about childcare away from American families and put it in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.\n\n\u201cBut the overall picture is impossible to mistake:\n\n\u201cInflation is hurting the American people and Democrats want to print, borrow, and spend trillions more.\n\n\u201cThe most out-of-touch agenda you could possibly imagine.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=9EBC440B-00A0-44C5-95C4-10124EFC340A", "McConnell: Critical Defense Legislation Deserves a Bipartisan Amendment Process", "2021-11-30", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cYesterday, a bipartisan majority of Senators rejected the Democratic Leader\u2019s effort to shut down debate on the National Defense Authorization Act and block new measures to get tougher on Russia.\n\n\u201cThe Democratic Leader wants to block the Senate from fully and robustly debating a number of important issues \u2014 from how to manage the fallout from the reckless Afghanistan retreat to how to respond to China\u2019s dramatic and destabilizing military modernization to how to restore deterrence against an emboldened Iran.\n\n\u201cThe NDAA is supposed to be the bipartisan forum for debating and acting on these kinds of issues. Months ago, the Armed Services Committee moved this process forward 23-3. But the Democratic Leader has botched the floor process.\n\n\u201cIt is especially bizarre to see the Democratic Leader so focused, so intent, on blocking the Senate from dealing seriously with the growing aggression from Putin\u2019s Russia. He seems downright desperate to block new bipartisan action on Nord Stream 2. It\u2019s strange to see.\n\n\u201cSenators Risch and Cruz have proposed language concerning this Putin pipeline that the House was able to pass almost unanimously. Unlike the House provision, the Risch/Cruz amendment includes a waiver provision that would give the President more flexibility, which makes the Democratic Leader\u2019s effort to shut the process down and block their amendment all the more baffling.\n\n\u201cIf there is opposition to this amendment \u2013 if it can be improved with modifications \u2013 then by all means, let\u2019s have a public debate.\n\n\u201cLikewise, Senator Portman has been a leading voice for bolstering our European partners and delivering more meaningful support to Ukraine\u2019s military.\n\n\u201cAs Putin masses forces on Ukraine\u2019s border, the Senate should debate how to help the Ukrainians defend themselves. The Democratic Leader is trying to shut that down too.\n\n\u201cThe NDAA is not finished yet. So the Senate cannot be finished yet either.\n\n\u201cWe need the same kind of normal, robust, bipartisan amendment process that always characterizes this bill. And we need the Democratic Leader to stop trying to block the Senate from sanctioning Putin\u2019s cronies.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=49DAA3E0-A3A9-434D-A631-40EFADFDAB44", "While Families Plead for Less Inflation, Democrats Want to Print and Spend Trillions More", "2021-11-29", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cWhy do our Democratic colleagues want to shortchange our national defense? To free up their time and attention for another massive, reckless taxing and spending spree. A radical wish list that would hurt American families and help China.\n\n\u201cWorking families are already getting slammed by runaway costs because Democrats\u2019 last massive spending spree drove up inflation. Gas prices are up almost 50%, used car prices are up more than 25%, and grocery prices across practically every category are up significantly over this time last year.\n\n\u201cBut in response, Washington Democrats want to print, borrow, and spend trillions more. Even if you accept all their budget gimmicks at face value, this bill alone would unleash $800 billion in not-paid-for spending in the next five years.\n\n\u201cYears five through ten are when their crushing tax hikes and phony accounting would kick in. But even then, the bill is not paid for. President Biden promised Americans over and over that this legislation would cost zero dollars.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s false.\n\n\u201cThe Congressional Budget Office says that after 10 years, after their tax hikes and fake offsets are factored in, their spree would still add $367 billion to the deficit.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden said the deficit impact would be zero. In reality, it is hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden promised Americans something else, too: He said he would never raise taxes on the middle class. People earning less than $400,000 per year were not to pay a penny more.\n\n\u201cHe has completely broken this promise as well. Among the $1.5 trillion in job-killing tax increases are new burdens for small businesses, family farms, and direct hikes on middle-class families earning less than six figures.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, amazingly, Democrats did find room in their plan to include $300 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest blue-state zip codes in New York and California. Our colleagues want to pretend they\u2019re launching another New Deal, yet one of the biggest components is a direct cash giveaway to their richest constituents.\n\n\u201cSo the cost of this spending spree would be astronomical. And the massive tax hikes that would only partly pay for it would crush our fragile economy.\n\n\u201cBut what about the content of this liberal wish list?\n\n\u201cIf Democrats get to steal the American people\u2019s credit card for this historic spending spree, what would our citizens even get to unwrap?\n\n\u201cThere\u2019d be massive government giveaways to supposedly \u2018green\u2019 initiatives, giving rise to a whole new generation of waste and abuse like Solyndra.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019d be a gigantic slush fund so that HHS Secretary Becerra, the culture warrior who sued Catholic nuns, could take over daycare and pre-kindergarten across America. He\u2019d be in charge of subsidizing certain kinds of private family choices but not others, and tilting the playing field against faith-based childcare.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019d be a continuation of inflationary welfare payments that Washington is sending out with zero work requirements whatsoever. And illegal immigrants would get the money too.\n\n\u201cOh, and as we speak, Senate Democrats are still trying desperately behind the scenes to get sweeping amnesty included in this bill as well.\n\n\u201cIt goes on and on like this, Madam President. A hodge-podge catalog that is built to satisfy the demands of activists, not the needs of families.\n\n\u201cIf you ask any working-class or middle-class American family for their top concerns, you aren\u2019t going to hear many people pining for massive tax hikes, electric car charging stations, and woke bureaucrats getting control of their kids\u2019 early childhoods.\n\n\u201cMy colleagues across the aisle seem determined to spend the weeks ahead on ways to waste Americans\u2019 money while making Americans\u2019 problems even worse.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s hope enough of our Democratic colleagues step back, take stock, do the responsible thing\u2026 and kill this bill.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FCC893AF-D422-498F-A01F-3B75BE4BEC20", "Senate Democrats Should Not Shortchange National Security", "2021-11-29", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s Democratic Party does not make the policy decisions of a party that is serious about protecting America.\n\n\u201cIn May, President Biden released a budget proposal that proposed a de facto cut in defense funding. And that was before the President\u2019s own supercharged inflation further cut the purchasing power of every defense dollar.\n\n\u201cIn August, his botched Afghanistan retreat shattered our allies\u2019 trust and delighted terrorists.\n\n\u201cIn 10 months in office, despite na\u00efve happy talk from the Administration, the threats we face are markedly worse.\n\n\u201cThe vacuum they left in Afghanistan has emboldened terrorists, from Iran\u2019s militias in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen to the highest ranks of the Taliban\u2019s government.\n\n\u201cTheir desperation to return to a failed nuclear deal has given Iran the upper hand in negotiations.\n\n\u201cFor four years, my colleague the Democratic Leader seemed constantly focused on Putin and Russia.\n\n\u201cBut now? With Putin flaunting his power and Russia engaged in ongoing cyber-attacks, weapons tests, and troop build-ups? Crickets.\n\n\u201cAnd for all their talk about China\u2019s threat, we\u2019ve seen no evidence that Democrats intend for the United States to keep pace with the PLA\u2019s investments in nuclear and hypersonic weapons.\n\n\u201cThe bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission has made clear we cannot shortchange our own military modernization and have a prayer of competing with the People\u2019s Republic of China or even the declining but dangerous Russian Republic.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues across the aisle have missed one opportunity after another to right the ship. They\u2019ve used the reconciliation process to pass trillions in new partisan spending without a cent for defending the nation.\n\n\u201cAnd despite the strong bipartisan work of our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, the Democratic Leader kept this year\u2019s defense authorization bill in limbo for months, and now wants to block the Senate from a real debate and a real amendment process.\n\n\u201cMadam President -- debating the right way to confront Russian threats to America and our allies and equip our friends in Ukraine is worth the Senate\u2019s time.\n\n\u201cPutin is massing tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine\u2019s border, but the Democratic Leader is trying to block a debate about responding to Russian aggression? It makes no sense.\n\n\u201cConsidering sanctions on the pipeline that fuels Putin\u2019s encroachment over Europe \u2013 including provisions from Senator Risch that closely mirror language the House added unanimously \u2013 is worth the Senate\u2019s time.\n\n\u201cSetting the record straight on our resolve to maintain a strong and credible nuclear deterrent that can check the worst impulses of our adversaries is worth the Senate\u2019s time.\n\n\u201cYet once again, the Democratic Leader seems to want to put national security last. My colleague is trying to overcorrect for poor planning by cramming a two-week bill into two or three days\u2019 time. I imagine there might be finger-pointing at Republicans if that proves impossible.\n\n\u201cMadam President, nothing less than the safety of the American people is at stake. This is more important than political timetables for partisan wish-lists.\n\n\u201cSo if the Democratic Leader insists on forcing a cloture vote later today, I will oppose cutting off these important debates prematurely, when they have really just begun.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-paul-stands-kentucky-farmers-and-cattlemen-opposition-biden-administrations-new-and/", "Dr. Paul Stands with Kentucky Farmers and Cattlemen in Opposition to the Biden Administration\u2019s New and Expansive WOTUS Rule", "2021-11-29", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 29, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement on the Biden administration\u2019s new and expansive waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that was quietly issued just over a week ago.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s farmers and agricultural industry suffered when the Obama administration implemented its burdensome WOTUS rule, and now the Biden administration has chosen to follow in their footsteps by appeasing the far left\u2019s priorities over the economic well-being of farmers across America. Their new rule essentially reverts to pre-2015 standards, which regulates every puddle and ditch in America, and further intrudes on Americans\u2019 private property rights and the Constitution\u2019s limits on federal power,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation and Kentucky Cattlemen\u2019s Association also released the following statements on the ruling:\n\n\u201cFarm families have always been on the forefront of good stewardship when it comes to natural resources, and certainly taking care of their water supplies is paramount. But as the EPA proposes to return to the pre-2015 interpretation of WOTUS, we need to have some clear directions on the definition of navigable waterways that are not subject to change with every new administration,\u201d said Mark Haney, President of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation.\n\n\u201cCattlemen depend on clean water for the health of our livestock and the sustainability of our operations. We know the importance of protecting and maintaining traditionally navigable waters and abutting wetlands, however, jurisdiction over prior converted cropland, stock ponds, and agricultural ditches is an unnecessary burden to livestock producers,\u201d said the Kentucky Cattlemen\u2019s Association.\n\nBackground:\n\nRecently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly issued its proposed rule re-writing the definition of \u201cwaters of the United States,\u201d commonly referred to as WOTUS. After promising to listen to the concerns of the farming community, the EPA introduced its rule before finishing consultations with the agriculture industry. The proposed rule harkens to the pre-2015 Obama standards with even less certainty over which waters are covered and is already facing opposition from agriculture groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation.\n\nThe regulation would also repeal the Trump Administration\u2019s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), which was applauded by the agriculture industry as a step in the right direction, and is similar to Dr. Paul\u2019s Defense of Environment and Property Act which he reintroduced in July.\n\nYou can read more about Dr. Paul\u2019s Defense of Environment and Property Act HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=DE949EE9-DDDB-439A-8888-3981CF3E255E", "McConnell Comments on the Passing of Paul Cummins", "2021-11-23", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today on the passing of Paul Cummins of Mount Vernon, Kentucky:\n\n\u201cI was saddened to learn of the passing of Paul Cummins, a proud Kentucky business owner who made a lasting impact on his family, friends, and neighbors. He helped found multiple businesses in Mount Vernon, bringing industry, good jobs, and small-town pride to his community. Through his leadership, he became a Rockcastle County mainstay, loved by all who knew him. Elaine and I share our deepest condolences with the Cummins family and will hold them in our prayers.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-reports-economic-cost-vaccine-mandates-across-us/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases Reports on the Economic Cost of Vaccine Mandates Across the U.S.", "2021-11-23", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 23, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, released reports for all 50 states in the U.S. on the economic cost of vaccine mandates.\n\n\u201cUnder President Biden\u2019s unlawful and unconstitutional vaccine mandates, our nation risks losing up to 28 percent of its labor force, not to mention it will cost businesses at least $1.29 billion,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cIn a free country, people have the right to make their own healthcare decisions. President Biden\u2019s command that working Americans and private businesses submit to his mandate upon penalty of loss of livelihood is a flagrant abuse of power that will destroy the U.S. economy and work force.\u201d\n\nYou can find the reports for all 50 states HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer-introduces-bill-to-ban-biden-s-authoritarian-federal-contractor-vaccine-mandate", "Comer Introduces Bill to Ban Biden\u2019s Authoritarian Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate", "2021-11-22", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) today introduced the Fairness for Federal Contractors Act of 2021 (H.R. 6016) to ban President Biden from requiring the employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19.\n\n\u201cAmerican workers should not be forced to get the jab to keep their job. President Biden\u2019s authoritarian mandate on employees of federal contractors requiring vaccination or termination is unfair to those who support the federal government and jeopardizes services such as defense and border security. Because of the sweeping mandate, employees risk losing their entire livelihoods\u2014jobs, pensions, and healthcare plans\u2014and President Biden places our country at risk to public safety, health, and supply chain crises,\u201d said Ranking Member Comer.\n\nIn September, President Biden issued Executive Order 14042, under which employees of federal contractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 infection by January 4, 2022, or risk losing their jobs and all the benefits associated with them. The executive order offers very few exemptions and does not provide options to be tested regularly.\n\n\u201cThe Fairness for Federal Contractors Act makes it clear Americans are empowered to make their own medical decisions. President Biden\u2019s continued assault on Americans\u2019 freedom must be stopped,\u201d added Ranking Member Comer.\n\nRanking Member Comer and Oversight Republican lawmakers recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, General Services Administration Secretary Robin Carnahan, and Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Shalanda Young requesting all information and documents related to President Biden\u2019s sweeping federal contractor vaccine mandate. The lawmakers also expressed concern it may also impact federal grantees, which could jeopardize the operations of local police departments, fire departments, emergency medical systems, and other vital organizations across the country.\n\nThe text of Fairness for Federal Contractors Act can be found here. Over 50 original cosponsors joined Ranking Member Comer in introducing the bill, including all Oversight Committee Republicans.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=EBB41ED6-C663-4D8A-BF9C-54F712440F21", "Barr Votes Against Biden\u2019s Big Government Socialist Bill", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Today, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr voted against the big government tax, borrow and spend Socialist bill. Following his vote, Congressman Barr released this statement:\n\n\u201cDespite historic, out-of-control inflation and rising costs of living for Kentuckians, Democrats are charging ahead on their big government Socialist spending bill.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden and top Administration officials insisted for months that their Socialist agenda would cost \u201czero dollars.\u201d However, the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that this was a lie. Instead, the Democrats\u2019 spending spree will add at least $367 billion to the almost $30 trillion debt.\n\n\u201cWhile Democrats passed a crushing, $1.2 trillion tax hike on families, small businesses and job creators, their bill gifts a tax cut to the vast majority of high-income earners. This includes a tax cut averaging $17,000 for the top 66 percent of taxpayers earning over $1 million in income.\n\n\u201cAdditionally, the Socialist package is riddled with special interest giveaways. One such handout is an electric vehicle (EV) tax credit that advantages automobile manufacturers in Michigan and Illinois but won\u2019t be applicable to EVs made at the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.\n\n\u201cFinally, the Socialist package contains amnesty provisions for illegal immigrants, doubles the IRS budget to target Americans and creates a new carve out in the tax code for trial lawyers. To protect hard working Kentuckians and stop this Socialist takeover of America, I voted no on this bill.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer-marshall-sound-alarm-over-agreement-between-usaid-and-wsu-to-conduct-dangerous-pathogen-research", "Comer, Marshall Sound Alarm Over Agreement Between USAID and WSU to Conduct Dangerous Pathogen Research", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) sent a letter to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power, expressing concerns over the cooperative agreement between USAID and Washington State University (WSU) requiring the university to conduct dangerous research on emerging pathogens. Considering the recent lack of transparency by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) over dangerous experiments being conducted with taxpayer dollars, the lawmakers are seeking to understand what measures are in place to prevent researchers from potentially creating another pandemic.\n\n\u201cRepublicans are conducting oversight of the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International Development and Washington State University. The agreement, announced on October 5, 2021, requires WSU to conduct research to better detect emerging pathogens and prevent pandemics\u2026 Considering the inability of NIH and NIAID to be transparent with the American people regarding dangerous research conducted on the taxpayer dime and the possibility of a laboratory leak or research accident leading to the COVID-19 pandemic, the terms of this agreement are concerning. The Committee needs to understand what measures are in place, under the agreement, to prevent researchers from potentially artificially creating another pandemic,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\n\u201cAccording to the agreement between USAID and WSU, American taxpayers will help fund dangerous viral research, the very type of research at the center of the COVID-19 origin investigation\u2026 Because of biosafety concerns, it is vital that the taxpayer funds associated with this agreement are allocated to laboratories that are safe and secure. Based on assessments from the Department of State and the U.S. Intelligence Community, this agreement should not include any laboratory in China due to the possibility COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and China\u2019s general refusal to cooperate with the international community\u2019s ongoing COVID-19 investigation. There are options other than China, and it is critical that USAID and WSU protect national security and act with the best interests of the American people in mind,\u201d continued the lawmakers.\n\nTo better understand USAID and WSU\u2019s cooperative research agreement, the lawmakers are requesting a briefing and information focused on laboratory security and international research partners.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/congressman-comer-votes-no-on-biden-s-1-8-trillion-tax-and-spend-package/da0a1855-6b14-437a-b41b-d1365e9c4afd", "Congressman Comer Votes No on Biden\u2019s $1.8 Trillion Tax-and-Spend Package", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Comer released the following statement upon voting no on President Biden\u2019s $1.8 trillion spending bill, which passed the House and now moves to the U.S. Senate. Despite President Biden\u2019s claims that the legislation costs zero dollars, the Congressional Budget Office has announced that the legislation adds $367 billion to the deficit, with the rest of the bill financed by significant tax increases.\n\n\u201cI voted no on yet another multi-trillion dollar spending bill being rammed down taxpayers\u2019 throats by President Biden and Speaker Pelosi. This $1.8 trillion spending bill will pour gas on America\u2019s inflation fire and lead to even higher costs for milk, gas, and other essential items the American people rely on.\n\nFurther, this left-wing wish list includes radical proposals like amnesty and welfare benefits for illegal immigrants, the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents, and a government takeover of significant portions of the American economy. Clearly Washington Democrats missed the message from Virginia, where the American people sent a message that they are fed up with the excessive spending, budget gimmicks, and special-interest giveaways found in this bill.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=EF727278-7005-468A-B990-82524545681A", "Congressman Rogers Votes Against Democrats' Social Spending Spree", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- Washington Democrats rammed through another irresponsible spending bill in the U.S. House of Representatives as Congressman Hal Rogers and House Republicans voted against the bill, warning Americans about the crippling impact it will have on our economy and how it will effect every family.\n\n\"Our nation is in crisis and American families are feeling the impact more every day at the gas pump, at the grocery store, and as we continue to watch the Biden Administration fail to address the mass supply chain failures at our ports. This bill does nothing to address those problems; in fact, it will only worsen them, taxing every family through more inflation and killing local jobs,\" said Congressman Rogers. \"The Democrats' so-called Build Back Better plan gives two-out-of-three millionaires a tax cut, while raising taxes on the middle class and American businesses. It also paves the way for higher energy bills, by spending more than $80 billion to advance its Green New Deal, shutting down current American energy resources and targeting coal operations once again.\"\n\nThe legislation excludes the Hyde Amendment, a long-time bipartisan provision that prohibits taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortions. The bill also prohibits faith-based child-care providers from receiving funds for pre-K and child-care programs, imposing new federal Head Start restrictions.\n\n\"There are hidden liberal agenda items woven throughout this legislation, attacking faith-based policies and removing longstanding protections for a parent's right to choose the best child-care providers,\" said Congressman Rogers.\n\nOne of the biggest beneficiaries of the bill is the IRS, receiving funding to double its staff and increase audits on American families. Nearly half of the predicted 1.2 million additional IRS audits will directly impact families earning $75,000 or less.\n\n\"While the IRS ramps up efforts to squeeze every dollar out of American taxpayers, the Democrats' plan also includes amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants,\" Rogers stated.\n\nDespite President Biden's claim that this bill would cost \"zero\" for American taxpayers, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the bill will add $367 billion to the nation's deficit.\n\nThe bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=8962EF2A-1B36-4AC9-A8EF-7CC4AA713812", "House Democrats Walk the Plank for Reckless Taxing & Spending Spree that Would Hurt Families and Help China", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cNinety percent of Americans are worried about inflation, but House Democrats just voted to let Washington D.C. print, borrow, and spend trillions more.\n\n\u201cOur economy is shaky, but House Democrats just voted for historic tax hikes that would drain hundreds of billions of dollars out of U.S. industries and kill American jobs.\n\n\u201cHouse Democrats pay lip service to economic fairness, but they just voted for a plan that combines tax hikes for the middle class with massive tax cuts for blue-state millionaires. In 2023, their plan would give net tax cuts to fewer than 4% of families who make between $50,000 and $100,000, but to more than 67% of households making between $500,000 and $1 million.\n\n\u201c\u2018Moderate\u2019 Democrats pretended to care about deficits and budget gimmicks. But even though nonpartisan referees had to swallow most of the Democrats\u2019 dishonest accounting tricks, they still proved this bill is not paid for. It would increase the national debt by about $800 billion just over the first five years, just as families are fighting inflation. But the \u2018moderates\u2019 fell in line anyway.\n\n\u201cAmericans never asked for the culture-warrior HHS Secretary who got famous by suing religious groups to be given sweeping new power over childcare.\n\n\u201cAmericans never asked for prescription drug socialism that will leave us with fewer new drugs and treatments, literally costing lives.\n\n\u201cAmericans never asked for radical anti-energy policies that would make gas and heating even more expensive and increase our dependence on Russia and China.\n\n\u201cIn poll after poll and in this month\u2019s elections, the American people told House Democrats to back away from the cliff. But the House listened to President Biden and Speaker Pelosi instead of the people.\n\n\u201cNow only a few Senate Democrats can protect American families from these radical and painful policies. It is up to them to kill this bill.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-honors-reed-family-floral-virgie-kentucky-senate-small-business-week/", "Dr. Rand Paul Honors Reed Family Floral of Virgie, Kentucky as Senate Small Business of the Week", "2021-11-19", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 19, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, recognized Reed Family Floral of Virgie, Kentucky, as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week.\n\nDr. Paul entered the following into the Congressional Record:\n\nMr. PAUL. Mr. President, as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, each week I recognize an outstanding Kentucky small business that exemplifies the American entrepreneurial spirit. This week, it is my privilege to recognize Reed Family Floral of Virgie, Kentucky, as the Senate Small Business of the Week.\n\nIn January 2020, Evan Sykes founded Reed Family Floral. Evan, who grew up in Pike County, was inspired by his family\u2019s legacy of entrepreneurship. From 1981 to 2003, his great-aunt and great-grandmother owned and operated a flower shop called Reed Floral. After graduating from Shelby Valley High School and earning an AA from Big Sandy Community and Technical College, Evan decided to honor that legacy and establish his own floral business. Starting with $500, he began making and selling wreaths. The business grew rapidly, enabling Evan to purchase a small building to house his operation. When Reed Family Floral expanded again, Evan had the perfect location in mind. In August 2021, Evan moved his business into the same building that had housed his family\u2019s flower shop decades earlier.\n\nToday, Reed Family Floral has become a local favorite. As the owner and sole full-time employee, Evan handles every aspect of the business \u2013 from accounting and marketing, to floral design and delivery. He prepares flower arrangements for any occasion, including weddings, school functions, and funerals. Evan\u2019s floral arrangements are in demand year-round, especially around Valentine\u2019s Day and Mother\u2019s Day. Notably, Evan balanced his entrepreneurship and education. While running a full-time business, he is pursuing a BA in Accounting at Morehead State University. As a non-essential business, Reed Family Floral was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns. Evan rose to the challenge, working with other small businesses to source supplies and adapting his contactless delivery options.\n\nLike many small business owners, Evan is active in his community. Locally, Reed Family Floral has sponsored the Pikeville High School tennis team and the Shelby Valley High School cheer team. They provide arrangements for school events, and participate in local fairs. From day one, Reed Family Floral has valued customer service and high-quality products. Recently, they were recognized by local news outlet Mountaintop Media as one of the best flower shops in the area.\n\nReed Family Floral is a remarkable example of the critical role small businesses play in every aspect of building community. Small businesses like Reed Family Floral form the heart of towns across Kentucky, regularly stepping up to support their communities. Congratulations to Evan and the entire team at Reed Family Floral. I wish them the best of luck and look forward to watching their continued growth and success in Kentucky\n\nAs Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Paul continues the tradition of honoring America\u2019s small businesses and entrepreneurs. The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship oversees proposed legislation on matters relating to the Small Business Administration and investigates all problems relating to America\u2019s small businesses.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=330AC288-D055-4239-8C6B-50D4E28263EC", "Barr Unveils Bill to Fix Failed Housing First Policy", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), a senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee, unveiled legislation to reform the failed Housing First policy at a press conference at the House Triangle on Thursday. The Housing Promotes Livelihood and Ultimate Success (Housing PLUS) Act is intended to end the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\u2019s (HUD) exclusive reliance on the so-called \u201cHousing First\u201d methodology, which recent U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness data demonstrates is a failed experiment.\n\nSpecifically, the bill would prohibit the HUD Secretary from prohibiting, limiting or otherwise restricting award of Continuum of Care (CoC) funds to providers because they require wraparound services such as addiction treatment or job counseling, or because they are faith-based organizations. The bill also directs the HUD Secretary to allocate no less than 30% of CoC funding to recipients that provide, or facilitate access to, wraparound services.\n\n\u201cHousing First prevents providers who require wraparound services from receiving federal funds to curb homelessness in our communities,\u201d said Congressman Barr. \u201cThese wraparound services are oftentimes necessary to ensuring a person can safely and fully attain permanent housing on their own. We need to abandon HUD\u2019s exclusive reliance on Housing First in favor of an all-hands-on deck approach to end homelessness in the United States. The Housing PLUS Act will ensure that HUD grant funding is reaching providers who are helping people transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency, without unneeded restrictions.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn my district, Austin, Texas has experienced the homelessness crisis get out of hand due to the failed liberal policies. Austin, like so many cities across the country, highlights the failure of big government solutions to fix local problems. We need to move on from the one-sized fits all Housing First policy that was an abject failure and allow greater flexibility for communities to find localized solutions that can finally deliver change,\u201d said U.S. Congressman Roger Williams (TX-25). \u201cI am proud to work alongside my colleagues and organizations who are dedicated to lifting people up and ending the cycle of government reliance.\u201d\n\n\"I\u2019m proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. Frankly, Republicans need to do a better job talking about the issues that directly affect people in our communities. As a Christian, I believe in the approach of civil society and of human beings helping each other. I don't believe in top-down approaches that limit the creativity and the ability of people, Texans, to be able to help fellow Texans,\u201d said Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21).\n\n\u201cCongressman Barr realizes what Congress has been doing regarding homelessness has not been working, and his Housing PLUS Act would start to address the issues by encouraging wraparound services to address the true root causes of homelessness. I thank Congressman Barr for his leadership on this critical issue,\u201d said Dr. Robert Marbut, former Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.\n\n\"Victims of domestic violence addiction and mental illness, first and foremost, need to heal from the trauma they have experienced,\u201d said Michele Steeb, Senior Fellow Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) who oversees TPPF\u2019s initiative to transform United States\u2019 and Texas\u2019 homelessness policy. \u201cTurning a blind eye to their conditions by instead placing them in a home without support to address their underlying needs is the antithesis of compassion. It is no surprise that this approach has seismically failed the homeless and the communities in which they reside.\"\n\nIn the five years after 2014 when the U.S. adopted Housing First as its exclusive solution to combatting homelessness, unsheltered homeless increased more than 20%, despite substantial increases in federal funding to fight homelessness. This sharp increase came after a decline in homelessness of roughly 31% between 2007 and 2014.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer-biden-s-vaccine-mandate-plays-politics-with-americans-food-supply", "Comer: Biden's Vaccine Mandate Plays Politics with Americans' Food Supply", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Representative Clay Higgins (R-La.), House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), and Oversight Republicans called on U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to delay the implementation of President Biden\u2019s vaccine mandate for USDA employees until the department can explain how it will make up for the potential loss in staff. The Republican lawmakers express concern with current vacancies at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the vaccine mandate\u2019s potential to impair our economy, food supply, and national security.\n\n\u201cWe are concerned with the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s rejection of the National Association of FSA County Office Employees\u2019 request for an exemption to President Biden's Executive Order Requiring Vaccination for Federal Employees,\u201d wrote the Republican lawmakers. \u201cOur offices have heard from numerous farmers and ranchers concerned with such far overreach by the Biden Administration and how this mandate will jeopardize the programmatic delivery of Farm Bill programs. While parts of the country are still recovering from an active 2020 and 2021 weather season, such as the Derechos and droughts in the Midwest, hurricanes and winter freezes in the South, and wildfires out West, ensuring the Department is keeping offices fully staffed is crucial.\u201d\n\nLocal and state FSA offices play a pivotal and crucial function in interacting with the agriculture community. Eleven months into the Biden Administration, USDA has only appointed seven state FSA Directors. These positions do not require Senate confirmation. Recruiting and retaining local and state FSA personnel is a complex and slow process, and the vaccine mandate will exacerbate it and result in the loss of decades of experience and knowledge.\n\n\u201cPlaying politics with American's food supply is profoundly concerning. With the threat of African Swine Fever knocking on our door, South Korea\u2019s confirmation of High Path Avian Influenza, and the continuing rising cost of household foods, any further action by the Department that would increase these risks is misguided. We respectfully ask you to delay the implementation of this mandate until the Department can explain how it will make up for the potential loss in staff and when the remaining 43 FSA State Directors will be appointed,\u201d the lawmakers concluded.\n\nThe letter to Secretary Vilsack can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer-requests-hearing-with-climate-czar-john-kerry", "Comer Requests Hearing with \"Climate Czar\" John Kerry", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on the Environment Ranking Member Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) released the following statements after sending a letter to Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney requesting Democrats convene a hearing with White House \u201cClimate Czar\u201d John Kerry. Given recent U.S. climate commitments to world leaders authorized by Mr. Kerry, the lawmakers are seeking the opportunity to examine the intricacies of Mr. Kerry\u2019s dealings and how the Biden Administration\u2019s climate policies are impacting the American economy, including skyrocketing gas prices and surging inflation.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden granted his Climate Czar, John Kerry, the ability to unilaterally set foreign policy and bind the United States to international agreements without consent from Congress. The American people deserve to fully understand Kerry\u2019s role in the Biden Administration and what closed-door deals he is making with any potential foreign adversary. Democrats should begin to take their oversight responsibilities seriously and immediately join our request for Secretary Kerry to appear before this Committee and answer the American people\u2019s questions,\u201d said Ranking Member James Comer.\n\n\u201cThe real \u201cclimate crisis\u201d we face is the Biden administration disregarding sound climate policy in favor of woke virtue signaling and a shameful reluctance to admit the Chinese Communist Party, guilty of human rights abuses, is the greatest threat to this planet both philosophically and ecologically. John Kerry can continue jetting around the globe building his narrative or he can buck up and come have a chat about real solutions to climate change with members of the Oversight Committee,\u201d said Rep. Ralph Norman.\n\nRead the full letter Chairwoman Maloney here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=E8C104C9-3151-4174-AE8A-1654FC3359C4", "Congressman Rogers Cosponsors Act to Reverse Biden's Vaccine Mandates", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Harold \"Hal\" Rogers (KY-05) is now a cosponsor of the No Vaccine Mandate Act (H.R. 5811). The legislation would reverse President Biden's vaccine mandate for private businesses with over 100 employees, which requires workers to be fully vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis.\n\n\"I am fully vaccinated and have advocated for individuals to get vaccinated from day one. However, President Biden's mandate on private employers is an overreach of power and an infringement on the freedom of Americans to make the best medical decision with their doctor, rather than being forced by the federal government,\" said Congressman Rogers. \"Employers immediately started filing lawsuits across the country, challenging the mandate, and this bill aligns with protections for those private employers and 84 million employees.\"\n\nLast week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the emergency mandate calling it \"fatally flawed\" and ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to suspend any implementation or enforcement efforts pending judicial review.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=443803A2-B9CA-461A-973E-779B1ED57AB3", "McConnell: Senate Should Use NDAA to Course-Correct Biden Administration\u2019s Mistakes", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cWell, at long last, the Senate will officially turn to the NDAA.\n\n\u201cEvery day, world events remind us that America faces serious, growing threats. In too many cases, President Biden\u2019s decisions have made things worse. So our annual opportunity for the Senate to have its say is as important this year as it\u2019s ever been.\n\n\u201cIn Russia, Putin\u2019s preparing to escalate military hostilities along the border with Ukraine. And he is using Europe\u2019s reliance on Russian natural gas to bully our friends.\n\n\u201cBut President Biden actually removed obstacles to Putin\u2019s brand-new pipeline that will further extend his leverage and further enrich his cronies. So I hope the Senate will consider an NDAA amendment to sanction this project and to provide additional lethal support to Ukraine. These initiatives have previously won bipartisan support so I hope Democrats will join Republicans in pushing back on Moscow.\n\n\u201cChina is flaunting major military innovations like hypersonic weapons systems, stepping up airspace intrusions over Taiwan, and blaming America for their bad behavior.\n\n\u201cBut while President Biden and our Democratic colleagues like to talk a good game about China, they have yet to really walk the walk. President\u2019s Biden budget request for our military and defense does not even keep pace with President Biden\u2019s inflation.\n\n\u201cIn addition, while Russia openly threats its neighbors and China builds up its conventional and nuclear forces, there are reports that Democrats are considering unprecedented new constraints on America\u2019s own nuclear options, through a \u2018no first use\u2019 or \u2018sole purpose\u2019 policy.\n\n\u201cOur allies have strong concerns about this. I hope the Senate will use the NDAA process to demonstrate bipartisan support for finally modernizing our nuclear triad. That\u2019s the bedrock of deterrence and our strongest defense against these serious threats.\n\n\u201cWhat about terrorism? Following President Biden\u2019s Afghanistan disaster, we\u2019re facing new and growing threats.\n\n\u201cThe new Taliban government has made cabinet ministers out of terrorists whom the Obama-Biden Administration let out of Guantanamo Bay. But the Biden-Harris administration has still naively acted like these characters care one bit about international norms. That\u2019s why Republicans have an amendment to ensure that none of the funding for Afghanistan aid can flow to the Taliban.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s an indictment of President Biden\u2019s policy that such an amendment is even necessary, but here we are.\n\n\u201cIn the Middle East, Iranian-backed terrorists are rampaging from Yemen to Iraq to Syria. They are emboldened as our deterrence has eroded. Given the multiple attacks on U.S. forces and facilities, we are fortunate more Americans haven\u2019t been killed. It may only be a matter of time before we see US casualties at the hands of Iranian-backed terrorists.\n\n\u201cBut in the wake of these growing threats, Democrats want to use the NDAA \u2013 a bill that should strengthen our national defense \u2013 as an occasion to weaken the authorities that support our military\u2019s presence and operational flexibility by repealing the 2002 AUMF. I expect a robust debate about this.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad we will finally be able to have these debates and these votes. America needs a course correction and the Senate needs to supply it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=5E6CC1F0-09DE-46CA-B0DF-BA2089C702B8", "Democrats\u2019 Reckless Tax Hikes Would Hurt Working Families, Help China, and Benefit the Ultra-Wealthy", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cAmerican families are dealing with painful inflation every day. They have been fighting this daily battle for months now.\n\n\u201cA few months ago, a grandfather raising four grandkids in Missouri told reporters he had to cancel summer camp for his 8-year-old and his 6-year-old in order to keep affording diapers for their twin younger brothers.\n\n\u201cOne Maryland woman told the local news she\u2019d gone to the grocery store to buy meat for her family, but was turned away by the price tag and had to leave with a $2 loaf of bread instead.\n\n\u201cOne man in Massachusetts who cares for his elderly mother told reporters that his 94-year-old mom needs the house kept warm, so they are getting absolutely crushed by runaway heating costs. Here\u2019s what he said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Before, you'd go to the store, and if you had $100, you could buy four bags of groceries and be happy. Now, you're lucky to get a bag. Milk, orange juice, eggs. Plus the oil for the house, the water bills. It's just crazy. It's so much money. How is somebody supposed to survive?\u2019\n\n\u201cThis persistent and painful inflation has been directly fueled by the reckless spending spree that Democrats rammed through in March. Even if Washington Democrats didn\u2019t inflict more new damage, economists still say \u2018we\u2019re going to see inflation get worse before it gets better.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Democratic Leader said on March 12th, \u2018I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near-term, are very real.\u2019 He was catastrophically wrong. And these same people want yet another multi-trillion-dollar bite at the apple.\n\n\u201cAmerican families know the spending part of Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree would spell disaster. 67% just told a survey that Washington should cut back on printing and spending because of inflation and rising costs.\n\n\u201cAnd then there\u2019s the taxing part of their reckless taxing and spending spree.\n\n\u201cThe bill that Democrats are writing behind closed doors would hike taxes on the American people by an estimated $1.5 trillion. A trillion and a half dollars in tax increases.\n\n\u201cDemocrats have already turned a strong economy into a shaky economy. Now they want to add the biggest tax hikes in a generation.\n\n\u201cA huge chunk of that is hundreds of billions of dollars of tax hikes on American industries and employers. Because the Biden Administration has become enamored with a global scheme where countries around the world supposedly all agree to hike their taxes together.\n\n\u201cThis is an awful idea. Remember, in 2019, Republican policies had set up the best economy for working Americans in a generation. That was in large part because we\u2019d just cut taxes substantially. We made America a more attractive place to do business.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden wants to do just the opposite: thrust America into some kind of global non-compete agreement. We\u2019re supposed to promise Europe and Asia that we won\u2019t make America an especially attractive place to bring jobs and prosperity.\n\n\u201cIt gets worse. President Biden and Secretary Yellen want America to leap over this cliff first, and tax the heck out of American industries while we just wait and see if our competitors really follow suit.\n\n\u201cYou better believe China would be thrilled to see the Democrats\u2019 bill drain hundreds of billions of dollars out of our own private sector as a symbolic gesture to the rest of the world.\n\n\u201cDemocrats\u2019 tax policies are just like their energy policies. They won\u2019t build back better. They\u2019ll Build Back Beijing.\n\n\u201cThis is just one part of the $1.5 trillion in job-killing tax hikes. There all kinds of tax increases that would hit major employers, Main Street small businesses, and American families.\n\n\u201cNonpartisan experts have confirmed the Democrats\u2019 bill would completely break the President\u2019s promise not to raise \u2018a single penny more\u2019 in taxes on middle-class households.\n\n\u201cThey even want to send tens of billions in extra funding to the IRS so they can hire an army of new agents to snoop and audit their way across the country. But less than 3% of the huge IRS windfall would fund better customer service for taxpayers.\n\n\u201cFinally, in the midst of all these tax hikes, Democrats from New York, New Jersey, and California have managed to include a massive tax cut for wealthy people who choose to reside in high-tax blue states. This bonanza for blue-state millionaires and billionaires would cost almost $300 billion on its own.\n\n\u201cEven the Washington Post could only marvel at the audacity. Here\u2019s their headline: \u2018The second-biggest program in the Democrats\u2019 spending plan gives billions to the rich.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn fact, Madam President, even though Democrats want to hike taxes by $1.5 trillion, their bill still manages to give a net tax cut to 89% of people making between $500,000 and a million dollars, and 69% of households making over a million.\n\n\u201cA huge blow to American competitiveness. Job-killing tax hikes. But Democrats make sure to look out for the ultra-wealthy on the coasts. A supermajority of them get tax cuts. I\u2019m almost impressed our colleagues have found a way to be this out of touch.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FF173591-8C98-4045-B566-9D2514D27D78", "ICYMI: McConnell on The Guy Benson Show", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Guy Benson this afternoon on Fox News Radio\u2019s \u2018The Guy Benson Show\u2019. See below for highlights or click here to listen to the full interview:\n\nOn the Democrats\u2019 Reckless Tax and Spending Spree:\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s happening here, Guy, is the Speaker is marching the House Democratic conference, or at least those that put them in the majority in swing states, right off the cliff. Marching them right off the cliff. Pursuing this ideological transformation of America into Bernie Sanders\u2019 vision of what the country ought to be. We already had a reaction from the public about how they feel about what these guys have been doing. We saw it in Virginia and even more importantly in New Jersey where not even competitive races had enormous Republican support. It was a protest vote against inflation and what the Democrats have been doing, already, all year.\u201d\n\nOn Rampant Inflation:\n\n\u201cManchin and Sinema have both said what the House does is irrelevant, which makes what the Speaker is doing to her own members even more outrageous. She is literally walking them off a cliff to support a bill that will never become law. And even if this reckless tax and spending spree ultimately in some form or another, clears the Senate, even liberal economists, who actually prefer from a policy point of view what the Democrats are trying to accomplish here, are admitting that it will exacerbate the inflation problem, both this year and next year.\n\n\u201cInflation is the number one issue. 90% of Americans are deeply concerned about inflation. That\u2019s the biggest issue. This measure is totally unresponsive to what the American people are concerned about as they go to fill up their cars, or go to the grocery store to try to prepare for Thanksgiving. The worst inflation in 30 years is on their mind, not more reckless taxing and spending.\u201d\n\nOn the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill:\n\n\u201cWhat it did was separate something that\u2019s popular -- 75% of Americans want to see the infrastructure addressed -- from something that\u2019s unpopular, which is what they were left with after that. Secondly, my vote was contingent upon there not being any revisitation of the 2017 tax bill in the infrastructure bill, and there wasn\u2019t. Not a single tax reduction item in the comprehensive tax bill of 2017 was altered in the infrastructure bill. And it was largely paid for, you could argue it wasn\u2019t fully paid for, but it was overwhelmingly popular. [It] didn\u2019t raise taxes and it separated out from the rest of the bill the popular part, leaving them only to deal with what I would call the \u2018spinach\u2019, the \u2018sugar\u2019 having already cleared.\u201d\n\nOn Giving Thanks This Year:\n\n\u201cWell it\u2019s probably not different from any other family. We gather around the table and we obviously count our blessings, not only the health of our family is front and center, but the blessing of being in the greatest country ever. The efforts that many particularly woke people on the hard left to run down this country make me angry. I\u2019m sure if they\u2019re this unhappy about America, there\u2019d be other countries that would be happy to take them, but I\u2019m among those who find myself among the luckiest people in the world to be in the United States of America.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-urges-senate-block-us-arms-sales-saudi-arabia/", "Dr. Rand Paul Urges Senate to Block U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia", "2021-11-18", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 18, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a joint resolution of disapproval to block proposed U.S. arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Paul was joined by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) in introducing the resolution.\n\nThe sale includes 280 air-to-air missiles and 596 missile launchers, among other weapons and associated training and support, with an estimated cost of $650 billion.\n\n\u201cA message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don\u2019t approve of their war with Yemen,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cBy participating in this sale, we would not only be rewarding reprehensible behavior, but also exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I urge Congress and the Biden Administration to consider the possible consequences of this sale that could accelerate an arms race in the Middle East and jeopardize the security of our military technologies.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the Saudi government continues to wage its devastating war in Yemen and repress its own people, we should not be rewarding them with more arms sales,\u201d said Sen. Sanders.\n\n\u201cThe war in Yemen is a humanitarian tragedy, and U.S. participation in this war remains undeclared by Congress. The administration\u2019s proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia contradicts the President\u2019s own stated policy. I am proud to once again stand with my colleagues and push back on unconstitutional support of this war,\u201d said Sen. Lee.\n\nBackground:\n\nOn November 4, 2021, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $650 million. The AIM-120C is predominately used defensively to strike drones from the air; although, they could conceivably be used in an offensive strike on other aircraft. The proposed sale comes in light of the Saudi-led fuel blockade of Yemen, which has prevented the free flow of food and water in the country. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced an end to \u201coffensive\u201d support in the war in Yemen. However, Saudi Arabia has continued its blockade in Yemen, which has worsened the humanitarian crisis in the country.\n\nYou can read the joint resolution HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=637A4E5A-7C9E-48F2-8033-F4D1F7391167", "CAROL Act Clears Energy and Commerce Committee, Marches Toward House Passage", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 On Wednesday, the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy (CAROL) Act unanimously passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) is leading this bill to honor the legacy of his late-wife Eleanor \u201cCarol\u201d Leavell Barr, and make critical investments in research for valvular heart disease. This paves the way for the full U.S. House of Representatives to vote on the bill.\n\nThe CAROL Act authorizes a grant program administered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), supporting research on valvular heart disease. It also convenes a workshop of subject matter experts to identify research needs and opportunities to develop prescriptive guidelines for treatment of patients with MVP. Finally, the bill instructs the Centers for Disease Control to increase public awareness regarding symptoms of valvular heart disease and effective strategies for preventing sudden cardiac death.\n\n\u201cCarol\u2019s life was dedicated to serving her community and country. This legislation that honors her extraordinary life and legacy will invest in the critical research needed to prevent the tragedy that impacted our family from happening to others,\u201d said Congressman Barr. \u201cI am grateful to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, and Congressman Brett Guthrie, for pushing this legislation through the Committee. It is time to move this bill across the finish line and save lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cI commend my friend Congressman Barr for leading this bipartisan bill which will fund new investments in valvular heart disease research and honor his wife, Carol,\u201d said U.S. Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (NY-04), who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. \u201cI am proud to co-lead this legislation, and I thank Chairman Pallone and our Energy and Commerce colleagues who advanced it today.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m thrilled the CAROL Act is now one step closer to becoming law after the full Energy and Commerce Committee passed it at today\u2019s markup. I commend my colleague and friend Andy Barr for introducing this legacy bill in honor of his late wife, Carol, to help other families avoid the same tragedy his family has faced. I hope the CAROL Act receives a vote on the House floor soon, and I will continue to support this bill every step of the way,\u201d said U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), who serves as the lead Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=A83B9F6D-8052-40F5-BAF3-ABD0A05A7DAB", "Congressman Barr Speaks on House Floor and Leads Moment of Silence to Honor Former Congressman Larry Hopkins", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) spoke on the House floor today to pay tribute to former U.S. Congressman Larry Hopkins (KY-06), who passed away on Tuesday. Congressman Barr also led the House in a moment of silence for the late Congressman Hopkins. The full transcript of Congressman Barr\u2019s remarks is below:\n\n\u201cMr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a true American patriot, former Congressman Larry Hopkins, who served in this body from 1979-1993 and passed away early yesterday. Throughout his extraordinary career in public service, Larry served in the Kentucky State legislature and for over a decade in Congress in the seat I now hold. Larry\u2019s career in public service began as a U.S. Marine in 1954. It was that love for the military that Larry would bring with him to Congress, where he rose to become the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.\n\n\u201cLarry\u2019s humor was famous with both his constituents and his colleagues\u2014 always offering a disarming joke to lighten the mood or evoking a good laugh. Above all Mr. Speaker, Congressman Hopkins was proud of his work across the aisle and the relationships he had with all of his colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike.\n\n\u201cIn these divided times, let us be inspired by the legacy of Congressman Hopkins to come together and solve the problems of our day, not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans who all love our country. On behalf of a grateful nation, God bless Congressman Larry Hopkins. To my colleagues in the House, join me in praying for his wife Carolyn, and three children, Shae, Tara and Josh. Mr. Speaker, I now ask for a moment of silence on the House Floor to honor the life of Congressman Larry Hopkins.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer-congress-must-review-pbms-role-in-rising-prescription-drug-prices", "Comer: Congress Must Review PBMs\u2019 Role in Rising Prescription Drug Prices", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) opened today\u2019s forum on \u201cReviewing the Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Pharmaceutical Markets\u201d by emphasizing congressional oversight of rising prescription drugs must include an examination of pharmacy benefit managers\u2019 (PBMs) role.\n\nIn his opening remarks, Ranking Member Comer outlined how PBMs\u2019 consolidation has negatively affected competition in the marketplace, leading to higher drug prices for Americans. He concluded his remarks by calling on PBMs to provide greater transparency about their practices and urged further review of proposed legislation to determine any changes needed to decrease the costs of prescription drugs and benefit patients.\n\nBelow are Ranking Member Comer\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery.\n\nAmericans spend more on prescription drugs\u2014about $1,200 per person\u2014than any other country.\n\nWhile prescription drugs account for approximately 10% of overall healthcare spending, Americans pay more out-of-pocket for prescription drugs than for hospital care or health insurance.\n\nFor years Democrats have attacked pharmaceutical companies\u2014companies that bring innovative and life-saving medications to market, including three incredibly successful COVID-19 vaccines thanks to Operation Warp Speed.\n\nInstead of highlighting successful pharmaceutical innovation that leads to treatments and cures for disease, Democrats have demonized these companies for high list prices without regard to the fact that patients do not pay the list price and patients can still access the medication.\n\nAll the while, Democrats have given a free pass to Pharmacy Benefit Managers even though they play an outsized role in driving rebates and list prices of prescription drugs.\n\nDespite my request to Chairwoman Maloney to hold a hearing to examine the role of PBMs, Democrats have decided to limit their drug pricing investigation to only pharmaceutical companies leaving a significant void in in the Oversight Committee\u2019s review of drug pricing and many unanswered questions.\n\nToday, I am pleased to hold this forum to examine the role PBMs play in pharmaceutical markets.\n\nPBMs were intended to be intermediaries to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers, and pharmacies on behalf of public and private payers such as Medicaid and Coca-Cola for example.\n\nOver the past decade PBMs have consolidated from more than 20 regional and national players, to 3 that control roughly 80% of the market.\n\nThe consolidation in the market has enabled PBMs to exercise significant negotiating power with pharmaceutical manufacturers and led to increases in the use of generic medications and savings for patients.\n\nHowever, PBMs have not only consolidated horizontally, they have also done so vertically.\n\nAs of today, every major PBM owns or is owned by a major health insurer.\n\nFurthermore, every major PBM owns or is owned by a specialty, mail-order, or retail pharmacy, or all three.\n\nThis means that when PBMs negotiate with a pharmacy or a health insurer, they are either negotiating with themselves or one of their direct competitors.\n\nTheir position as the middlemen, negotiating and engaging with all the players in the pharmaceutical market has enabled PBMs to grow exponentially, and snuff out their competition.\n\nPBMs audit competing pharmacies viewing data including the pharmacies acquisition costs and patient data and then use that data to steer commercial patients to their own pharmacies and reimburse competing pharmacies at lower rates.\n\nIn Ohio two of the largest PBMs, CVS Caremark and OptumRx, charged Ohio Medicaid $223.7 million more than it had paid competing pharmacies.\n\nIn my home state of Kentucky, PBMs paid competing pharmacies $123.5 million less than was charged to the state Medicaid program in 2018, alone.\n\nThis is only one example of how PBMs negatively affect competition.\n\nIn the Medicare program, PBMs use a tactic known as direct and indirect remuneration, or DIR, to claw back billions of reimbursements paid to pharmacies.\n\nIn 2019, DIR clawbacks rose to over $9 billion, more than 18% of the Medicare drug spending.\n\nWhile these clawbacks were originally intended to enable PBMs to accurately report pharmacy rebates and price concessions, they have grown dramatically, enabling PBMs to create a negative reimbursement in certain cases.\n\nThis means a PBM is not only taking back all of what the PBM paid the pharmacy for the prescription, but also clawing back all or a portion of the patient\u2019s copay.\n\nPBMs also exert immense control over patient formularies, allowing them to steer patients to high-cost medications because these medications give them higher rebates.\n\nBy steering patients to higher-cost medications, PBMs increase patients\u2019 copays and force manufacturers to increase list prices to pay PBMs higher rebate demands.\n\nWhile PBMs pass on a portion of rebates they receive to payers, their lack of transparency makes it nearly impossible to determine whether these rebates are truly benefiting patients, or simply increasing PBM profits.\n\nWithout greater transparency of PBMs it is difficult to see how these tactics are benefitting patients at all. If the value for consumers is so great, it shouldn\u2019t be a stretch for PBMs to prove their worth and have an open discussion about their practices.\n\nThat is why this forum is so important.\n\nToday, we take a first step to reviewing the role of PBMs in pharmaceutical markets to determine what, if any, changes need to be made and how proposed legislation could decrease the costs of prescription drugs and benefit patients.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=68F3F443-BD85-4719-B0BC-26DB210C6D49", "With Families Hurting, Democrats Want to Try Inflating Their Way Out of Inflation", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cA lot has gone wrong since this unified Democratic government took the reins in January.\n\n\u201cLook at foreign policy. The Biden Administration\u2019s clumsy retreat from Afghanistan left Americans behind who wanted out and handed the country to a government staffed with terrorists who used to be locked up in Guantanamo Bay.\n\n\u201cLook at energy independence. Or, I should say, energy dependence. President Biden cancelled our own Keystone XL pipeline but cleared the path for a new pipeline for Vladimir Putin. The amount of Russian oil that America has to import has already nearly doubled on the Democrats\u2019 watch.\n\n\u201cLook at the border. Illegal crossers are flooding across our southern border, an all-time high \u2014 but Democrats have interior enforcement arrests down to a decade low.\n\n\u201cBut there is no question what crisis is top of mind for middle-class families. There is no question what is keeping working Americans awake at night.\n\n\u201cInflation. The runaway prices and unpredictability that Democrats\u2019 policies have fueled.\n\n\u201cNinety percent of Americans told one recent survey they are \u2018somewhat\u2019 or \u2018extremely\u2019 concerned with inflation.\n\n\u201cWe are a huge and diverse country, Mr. President. It\u2019s hard to get 9 in 10 Americans to agree on almost anything. But less than one year under Democrats\u2019 policies has 90 percent of America worried about inflation.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s no wonder. Year-on-year, consumer prices have risen faster than they have in over three decades. Last month marked the fifth month in a row that inflation has topped 5%.\n\n\u201cThese across-the-board numbers can sound a little abstract. Let\u2019s make this very tangible.\n\n\u201cIn the past year, buying meat, fish, and eggs has gotten 12% more expensive. A gallon of gas costs the average American $1.31 more than it did a year ago. And heaven forbid anyone having to replace a family car this year \u2013 used auto prices are up 26%.\n\n\u201cEven getting family and friends together for Thanksgiving is a much pricier prospect than it was last year. Turkey, alone, is an extra 25 cents per pound. Factor in all the fixings, and some estimates project a feast next week will run families up to 15% more than last year.\n\n***\n\n\u201cFor a while, the White House tried to downplay the problem. President Biden and his team told American families that costs weren\u2019t really rising as much as it seemed\u2026\n\n\u201cOr that, okay, costs were rising, but it would only last a few months\u2026\n\n\u201cOr, as some liberals argued, that if you remove food costs, housing costs, and transportation costs from the equation, inflation wasn\u2019t really so bad!\n\n\u201cSome have tried to argue that rampant inflation is actually a high-class problem to have, because at least we aren\u2019t in a recession. I\u2019m not kidding. I guess they think working Americans should stop complaining and be grateful things aren\u2019t even worse.\n\n\u201cBut a sad irony is that inflation is exactly the opposite of a high-class problem. Inflation is like a hugely regressive tax hike that hits the middle class, the working class, and the poor far more than it hurts wealthy people.\n\n\u201cThe three biggest drivers of the staggering 6.2% inflation rate we logged last month were housing, transportation, and food. Those aren\u2019t luxuries, they\u2019re essentials, and they take up a much bigger share of families\u2019 budgets from the middle class on down.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 inflation is functioning like an ultra-punitive tax on the American families who can least afford it. Exactly the opposite of a \u2018high-class problem.\u2019\n\n***\n\n\u201cIt didn\u2019t have to be this way, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThis inflation spike wasn\u2019t just predictable. It was, in fact, predicted.\n\n\u201cThis past spring, I warned my Democratic colleagues right here, on this floor, that their unbelievably expensive and poorly-targeted spending bill that masqueraded as COVID relief would turn our strong economic recovery into an inflationary mess. Many of my Republican colleagues sent the same warning.\n\n\u201cBut Democrats didn\u2019t have to take our word for it. Even their own favorite liberal economists \u2014 like President Clinton\u2019s Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and President Obama\u2019s CEA Chairman Jason Furman \u2014 warned that liberal bill might supercharge inflation.\n\n\u201cNow our Democratic colleagues want to ram through another, even bigger reckless taxing and spending spree that would make inflation even worse. Many of those same liberal economists support this new spending spree because of all the left-wing goodies that are packed into it. But even they largely admit the package would make inflation even worse next year.\n\n\u201cSteven Rattner, a senior economic advisor to President Obama, just wrote in the New York Times that, \u2018the original sin was the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan\u2026 That has contributed materially to today\u2019s inflation levels.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe goes on to say that Democrats\u2019 new taxing and spending spree, \u2018can be deemed \u2018paid for\u2019 only if one embraces budget gimmicks, like assuming that some of the most important initiatives will be allowed to expire in just a few years. The result [is] a package that front-loads spending while tax revenues only arrive over a decade.\u2019\n\n\u201cMr. Rattner cites an outside estimate that, \u2018the plan would likely add $800 billion or more to the deficit over the next five years, exacerbating inflationary pressures.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis is a former top advisor to President Obama \u2014 a liberal Democrat \u2014 explaining that the Democrats\u2019 new proposal as currently constituted would make inflation worse. He says it\u2019s the Democrats\u2019 proposal itself that needs to be built back better.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden and his party have already brought needless pain on American families with their reckless spending.\n\n\u201cRamming through another multi-trillion-dollar partisan wish list would compound the damage.\n\n\u201cThe hardworking men and women of this country cannot afford to be guinea pigs in a socialist experiment where Democrats try to inflate their way out of inflation.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=7DE2BB23-680F-4181-AE0D-E61E1E7CCECE", "McConnell Comments on the Passing of Former Paducah Mayor Gerry Montgomery", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today on the passing of former Paducah Mayor Gerry Montgomery:\n\n\u201cI was saddened to learn of the passing of my good friend Gerry Montgomery, who was a true champion for Western Kentucky and its people. I had the pleasure of working alongside Gerry during the entirety of her tenure as mayor of Paducah. She brought passion, ingenuity, and incredible generosity to her job, making leaps and bounds of progress throughout her time in office.\n\n\u201cGerry will be remembered for many things, including proclaiming Paducah \u2018Quilt City U.S.A.\u2019 and opening her city\u2019s famous Quilt Museum. Those kinds of projects \u2013 deeply rooted in the historical, artistic, and cultural fabric of Western Kentucky \u2013 typified a career focused solely on making Paducah a better place to live, work, and visit. Even after retiring as mayor, Gerry remained involved in Western Kentucky community activism, founding the extraordinarily impactful Community Foundation of West Kentucky.\n\n\u201cKentucky lost one of its finest public servants today. My thoughts are with Gerry\u2019s children, Sarah Katharine, Evelyn, and David, and her five grandchildren. Elaine and I share our deepest condolences with the Montgomery family and will hold them in our prayers.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-releases-report-economic-cost-vaccine-mandates-kentucky/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases Report on the Economic Cost of Vaccine Mandates in Kentucky", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 17, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, released a report highlighting the economic cost of vaccine mandates in Kentucky. Dr. Paul will release the reports for all 50 states tomorrow.\n\n\u201cUnder President Biden\u2019s unlawful and unconstitutional vaccine mandates, Kentucky risks losing up to 34 percent of its labor force, not to mention it will cost Kentucky businesses at least $50 million,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cIn a free country, people have the right to make their own healthcare decisions. President Biden\u2019s command that working Americans and private businesses submit to his mandate upon penalty of loss of livelihood is a flagrant abuse of power that will destroy Kentucky\u2019s economy and work force.\u201d\n\nHighlights:\n\n677,458 Kentucky workers are at risk of losing their jobs if they do not comply with Biden\u2019s authoritarian mandates\n\nComplying with the vaccine mandates will cost manufacturers at least $5.9 million\n\n35 percent of retail workers risk losing their job if they resist Biden\u2019s vaccine mandates\n\nYou can read the Kentucky report HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-statement-small-business-committee-ranking-member-rand-paul-md-sba-funding-planned-parenthood/", "Statement from Small Business Committee Ranking Member Rand Paul, M.D. on SBA Funding Planned Parenthood", "2021-11-17", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 17, 2021\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, released the following statement regarding the Small Business Administration\u2019s funding of Planned Parenthood:\n\n\u201cSmall Business Committee minority members have been clear for months that the SBA must be held accountable for using money meant for small businesses to fund Planned Parenthood. The Trump Administration ruled that Planned Parenthood was not a small business and therefore ineligible for SBA funds. The Biden Administration reinstated the awards to Planned Parenthood but is refusing to reveal the documents. Not only is this money a payoff for the Biden Administration\u2019s political allies, the money is free from the longstanding prohibition on using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. This should be a grave concern to all taxpayers. We have spent months using every tool at our disposal to get the SBA to tell us the truth about what is going on and reverse course with this money. The SBA has stonewalled us at every turn, refusing to answer basic questions or provide even customary oversight information.\n\n\u201cWe will not relent on demanding accountability for the Biden Administration\u2019s lawless actions. We will not be swayed by events staged to generate press releases and speeches. We will not stop standing up for life. If the SBA will not reverse course, we will not be complicit by providing the SBA additional personnel to continue on their path. President Biden would be well advised to offer his current nominee another position in his administration.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=37681DA2-4C85-4AF7-8C2C-B5E9B6D47B8A", "Barr Announces Major $616,000 Infrastructure Grant for Frankfort", "2021-11-16", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Today, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) announced the City of Frankfort will receive a major, $616,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Funded through the DOT\u2019s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program, the grant will support planning revitalization efforts in Frankfort\u2019s Holmes Street Corridor. Congressman Barr voted for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act that funded this grant and advocated on behalf of Frankfort\u2019s application through a letter of support to the DOT.\n\n\u201cUpgrading the Holmes Street Corridor will enhance economic development and quality of life for residents and businesses in Frankfort for decades to come,\u201d said Congressman Barr. \u201cThis federal grant is the first step in devising a plan to calm traffic, improve road safety as well as create pedestrian and bike access from Kentucky State University to downtown Frankfort.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Holmes Street corridor is a diverse neighborhood of residential, commercial and industrial property and is an important entrance into our city,\u201d said Layne Wilkerson, Mayor of the City of Frankfort. \u201cThe RAISE grant will help the City of Frankfort better connect the corridor to downtown, attract new investment, and improve conditions for vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and existing businesses. We are excited for this opportunity and thank our Congressional delegation, especially Congressman Barr, for his leadership and support for this grant.\u201d\n\nThe Holmes Street Corridor encompasses 25 city blocks. Approximately 2 miles in length, the neighborhood is extremely diverse, with a mix of housing, commercial, and industrial uses. Frankfort\u2019s comprehensive plan identifies the reconstruction of Holmes Street as a top priority. The Holmes Street Corridor was also designated an Opportunity Zone (OZ). Congressman Barr voted for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which created OZs and enables areas designated as OZs to be eligible for additional federal funding.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=FC59B144-AEEB-4EB0-A58A-B851C562A86B", "Statement from Congressman Andy Barr on the Passing of Former Congressman Larry Hopkins", "2021-11-16", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) released the following statement after the passing of former U.S. Congressman Larry Hopkins:\n\n\u201cLarry Hopkins was a legend in Kentucky politics and a force for the Commonwealth in the House of Representatives. Serving for over a decade in the seat I now hold, Larry rose to being the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. He was beloved by both sides of the aisle, and his humor was famous with constituents and colleagues. On a personal note, Larry was a great friend and mentor to me during and before my time in Congress. I will miss him, and I join all Kentuckians in praying for his family, friends and the community that he loved so much.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=03B93F19-4606-47B5-90C9-A99D6DAAFC95", "McConnell Helps Secure $616,000 for Frankfort Roadway Development Project", "2021-11-16", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Department of Transportation awarded $616,000 to the City of Frankfort to fund a roadway redevelopment plan. These funds are distributed as part of the Department of Transportation\u2019s competitive RAISE planning grant program.\n\nThe grant will be used to study upgrades for a two-mile, twenty-five-block section of Holmes Street in Frankfort. Planning will include community engagement, a traffic and safety analysis, a parking needs evaluation, and the development of new access management strategies.\n\nSenator McConnell contacted the Department of Transportation in support of the City of Frankfort\u2019s grant application.\n\n\u201cLike many communities in Kentucky, the City of Frankfort is always looking for ways to upgrade its roadways to create a safer, more welcoming living environment that invites development. I was proud to work with Judge Wells, Mayor Wilkerson and other community leaders to support this RAISE grant application and help Frankfort design an upgrade to the Holmes Street corridor, fostering the jobs and small businesses our Commonwealth needs to thrive,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cProjects like this are a key part of my work in Washington and showcase the direct impact federal investment can have on Kentucky communities. I look forward to continuing to fight to ensure the Commonwealth receives its fair share of infrastructure spending.\u201d\n\n\u201cI appreciate Senator McConnell\u2019s hard work in helping our community acquire the Department of Transportation RAISE grant for the Holmes Street area. It is an important corridor into our historic downtown which could vitally use these improvements. I am excited to see this area is getting the serious attention it gravely needs. I thank the Senator for being a strong advocate for our Franklin County community,\u201d said Franklin County Judge-Executive Huston Wells.\n\n\u201cThe Holmes Street corridor is a diverse neighborhood of residential, commercial and industrial property and is an important entrance into our city. The RAISE grant will help the City of Frankfort better connect the corridor to downtown, attract new investment, and improve conditions for vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and existing businesses. We are excited for this opportunity and thank our Congressional delegation, especially Senator McConnell, for his leadership and support for this grant,\u201d said Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson.\n\n\"We are pleased that the City of Frankfort was selected to receive the RAISE grant. The Holmes Street Corridor is a designated Opportunity Zone in Frankfort and this grant will allow us to plan how we can attract businesses, create jobs and improve safety and livability for residents in this key gateway to the city,\u201d said Frankfort City Manager Laura Hagg.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=0D69D004-B580-45FE-8AF3-016AD6792B61", "Build Back Beijing: Democrats\u2019 Anti-Energy Bill Would Hurt Families and Help China", "2021-11-16", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cTwo weeks ago, President Biden and his team flew to Glasgow for a glitzy conference. World leaders traveled there to attend one another\u2019s speeches on carbon emissions and the climate.\n\n\u201cThe world\u2019s largest emitter was absent. China pumps out more than a quarter of the entire world\u2019s emissions but President Xi didn\u2019t bother to attend this conference.\n\n\u201cPutin didn\u2019t show up either. He and his cronies in Moscow are too busy using Russia\u2019s natural gas stranglehold to make energy hostages out of our European friends who rushed too naively towards renewables.\n\n\u201cThis goes to the core problems with the anti-energy agenda that liberal elites want to thrust on our country. Maximum self-inflicted pain for American families\u2026 in exchange for no meaningful global gains.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019d have America tie one hand behind our back while our competitors and adversaries keep right on going.\n\n\u201cHurts families\u2026 helps China.\n\n\u201cAcross the country, working families are already worrying about the big, potentially historic spikes in energy costs and heating bills that are heading their way.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s a New York Times headline from last week: \u2018Winter Heating Bills Loom as the Next Inflation Threat.\u2019\n\n\u201cFutures contracts for home heating fuels have skyrocketed in price. Natural gas futures have just about doubled from last year. For heating oil and propane, it\u2019s even worse.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee are holding a hearing this very morning on rising heating costs.\n\n\u201cIn Kentucky, about 4 in 10 households are heated by natural gas. Families are about to get slammed.\n\n\u201cEven more Kentucky families rely on straight electricity for their heat. And in our state, more than two-thirds of our electrical power comes from coal. Coal literally keeps the lights on and the cold out.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why the original Obama-Biden war on coal hit states like Kentucky so hard. And it\u2019s why the even more radical sequel that Democrats are planning next would fall on the heartland like a ton of bricks.\n\n\u201cThe President\u2019s special envoy for climate issues, John Kerry, says, \u2018[Y]ou have to phase down coal before you can end coal.\u2019 One of the President\u2019s nominees to the Treasury Department has admitted that small producers of affordable American energy, \u2018are going to probably go bankrupt in short order.\u2019\n\n\u201cAmerican families are staring down the barrel of skyrocketing heating bills, and the Democrats\u2019 response is to go to war against affordable American energy.\n\n\u201cThe reckless taxing and spending spree they\u2019re writing behind closed doors and want to pass in a matter of weeks would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on Green New Deal-type policies that would saddle families with even higher prices and make our nation even more dependent on Russia and the Middle East.\n\n***\n\n\u201cOf course, energy inflation is just one part of the huge inflation crisis that Democrats have unleashed.\n\n\u201cAccording to reports on one new survey, ninety percent of Americans are either somewhat concerned or very concerned about inflation and rising costs. Nine in 10 households are hurting.\n\n\u201c67% of the country, two thirds, say Washington needs to stop printing and spending so much and driving prices even higher.\n\n\u201cEnergy bills and gas prices are just one corner of this inflation crisis. But Democrats want to ignore the people, plow ahead, and spend trillions more.\n\n\u201cEven liberal economists who like the Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree because they agree with the far-left transformation admit that it would make inflation even worse next year.\n\n\u201cThere is no part of our economy that can afford another massive dose of socialism.\n\n***\n\n\u201cBut Democrats are specifically targeting American energy to get hit especially hard.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re planning direct new taxes, new fees, and new regulatory mandates for energy producers.\n\n\u201cThey want to make affordable, reliable energy artificially expensive to force Americans toward the less affordable, less reliable forms of energy that elite liberals would rather they use.\n\n\u201cIt would hurt families badly\u2026 and it would help China in a big way.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s because the Biden Administration doesn\u2019t have any strategic plan to snap its fingers and turn our massive country into some green utopia overnight.\n\n\u201cThey just want to throw boatloads of government money at things like solar panels and electric vehicles and hope it all works out.\n\n\u201cBut China absolutely dominates these supply chains. For lithium batteries. For solar panels. For practically all these fashionable purchases into which Democrats want to dump all this money.\n\n\u201cIn all likelihood, Democrats\u2019 supposedly \u2018green\u2019 agenda would just provide a massive one-way gift to our adversary, the world\u2019s number-one emitter, the Chinese Communist Party.\n\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t \u2018Build Back Better.\u2019 It\u2019s \u2018Build Back Beijing!\u2019\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s just one example.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a raw material called polysilicon that is crucial for solar panels. According to the New York Times, more than 80 percent of the entire world\u2019s supply comes from China. About half of the world\u2019s supply comes just from the Xinjiang province, where China is brutalizing the Uyghur minority with tactics that include forced labor.\n\n\u201cThere are other key resources including critical minerals where China has similar strangleholds.\n\n\u201cHere are some recent headlines:\n\n\u201c\u2018Lithium Shortage May Stall Electric Car Revolution and Embed China\u2019s Lead.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018China\u2019s lithium companies are in an investment frenzy.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd just like liberal policies are hostile to the American energy we produce here at home, they are also hostile to exploring for these critical minerals here at home.\n\n\u201cTheir massive proposal is packed with anti-hard-rock-mining provisions that would make it even harder to stand up American supply chains for critical minerals.\n\n\u201cSo here\u2019s the bottom line, Mr. President. American families don\u2019t want Washington politicians waging a holy war on fossil fuels in the first place. They can\u2019t afford that nonsense.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s even more absurd that Democrats\u2019 top-down schemes would just increase China\u2019s wealth and dominance along the way.\n\n\u201cThey don\u2019t have some smart master plan to invest in America\u2019s future. They\u2019ve got a plan to Build Back Beijing. Raise American families\u2019 gas prices and heating bills even higher so that we could massively stimulate Chinese export markets.\n\n\u201cHurt families; help China. Every piece of their reckless policies fit this mold.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1FF3F9C5-9B6F-4F88-8E1F-518719B43037", "McConnell Comments on the Passing of Representative Larry Hopkins", "2021-11-16", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today on the passing of former U.S. Representative Larry Hopkins (KY-06):\n\n\u201cI was saddened to learn of the passing of my friend, former Representative Larry Hopkins, who proudly served the people of Central Kentucky at each level of local, state, and federal government. Larry had an independent voice, allowing him to overcome partisan rancor to make friends on both sides of the political aisle. He was a premier legislator in both Frankfort and Washington and will be missed by all of his former colleagues.\n\n\u201cI had the opportunity to serve alongside Larry in Congress for nearly a decade, standing by his side as he tackled the most pressing issues facing our state and the nation. As a former marine, he used his expertise on the House Armed Services Committee to reform and modernize our military. As a representative of Kentucky\u2019s Bluegrass region, he worked on numerous bills to improve the lives of our farmers. Above all, Larry cared deeply about the Commonwealth.\n\n\u201cLarry was devoted to his wife, Carolyn, his daughters, Shae and Tara, and his son, Josh. I know Larry took great pride in the successful careers of his children. Elaine and I share our deepest condolences with the Hopkins family and will hold them in our prayers.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=4DA85059-90B4-4680-BA1E-0A51B560B3F6", "Gov. Beshear, Congressman Rogers Award More Than $9 Million in Grants to Support Economic Development Projects in Eastern Kentucky", "2021-11-15", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 15, 2021) \u2013 Today, Gov. Andy Beshear and U.S. Rep. Harold \u201cHal\u201d Rogers (KY-05) announced $9.18 million in Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program funds for economic development projects in 10 Eastern Kentucky counties.\n\n\u201cWhen completed, these projects will help support local communities and spur economic growth in Martin, Letcher, Floyd, Leslie, Knox, Knott, Owsley, Boyd, Pike and Perry counties,\u201d said Gov. Beshear. \u201cThis program has a proven record of creating jobs in Eastern Kentucky, and these grants are another solid building block to help us build a better Kentucky for all of our families.\u201d\n\nCongressman Rogers, along with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has championed $665 million in federal funding for the AMLER Program since 2016, of which $140 million has been awarded to Kentucky.\n\n\u201cThis grant program is creating jobs, advancing vital community projects and restoring hope in Eastern Kentucky. I am proud of what we have accomplished through these grants thus far and the ongoing work to meet the needs of our people,\u201d said Congressman Rogers. \u201cThis program is a great example of how federal, state and local governments can work together to invest in projects that greatly benefit our communities across Southern and Eastern Kentucky.\u201d\n\nEnergy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman selected the projects for initial vetting by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). More than 70 applications for funding in 2021 were received by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet\u2019s (EEC) Division of Abandoned Mine Lands.\n\nThe projects selected for funding include:\n\nCold Storage LLC was awarded $2.5 million for construction of an agriculture cold storage facility in Martin County in which an underutilized existing spec building will be converted into a refrigerated commercial facility allowing apples to be stored up to a year after picking.\n\nCowan Community Action Group Inc. was awarded $1 million to equip the Farmers Market Pavilion with cold storage, commercial equipment, restrooms, an office and stage, and to expand the Cowan food service kitchen as well as equip a food truck.\n\nAppalachian Regional Healthcare was awarded $750,000 to equip the Highlands ARH Medical Center in Prestonsburg with a diagnostic CT scanner and mammogram equipment.\n\nLeslie County Fiscal Court was awarded $1 million to expand the Leslie County Recreational Facility by constructing a camping complex with 114 picnic tables, stationary grills and fire pit rings. Almost 70 RV pads will be constructed, as well as a 40,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion that will include an event stage, roadway and parking.\n\nThe City of Booneville was awarded $600,000 for construction of cabins to allow for overnight accommodations at the Sag Hollow Golf Club.\n\nKCEOC Community Action Partnership Inc. was awarded $750,000 to purchase an existing 20,000-square-foot building on 10 acres in Knox County for a diesel mechanics shop and CDL test site. KCEOC will lease the facility to Southern Kentucky Community and Technical College, which will operate the training facility.\n\nThe City of Ashland was awarded $1 million to engineer and design a parking garage and convention center in downtown Ashland.\n\nPike County Fiscal Court was awarded $700,000 to install 3,000 feet of electric lines at the Wolfpit Industrial & Technology Park.\n\nThe Knott County Water District was awarded $600,000 for the purchase of two backup generators for the system that produces water for three counties, servicing 7,000 citizens.\n\nHazard Community & Technical College was awarded $280,000 for equipment purchases for the expansion of its successful lineman training program.\n\n\u201cThese grants are highly sought after and are providing the kind of job growth and economic stimulus that we hoped this funding program would produce,\u201d Secretary Goodman said. \u201cWe are excited to have helped launch these projects.\u201d\n\nAMLER grants are available for projects in 54 Appalachian counties in Kentucky with historic coal mining sites that have the potential to create long-term economic benefits.\n\nSince the AMLER program\u2019s inception in 2016, 63 projects in 23 counties have been selected for the funding. The program has generated 143 jobs so far, including 83 new positions at the Dajcor aluminum extrusion project in Perry County and more than 258 workers trained at the East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute (eKAMI) and at Hazard Community and Technical College. In addition, officials report a good volume of reservations being made at Impact Outdoors and the Prestonsburg-to-David Rails to Trails projects. Once completed, these 63 grantees are projected to have created more than 2,800 new jobs.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4262D266-4656-4E53-A78C-9605882B50E3", "McConnell on Senator Leahy\u2019s Announced Retirement", "2021-11-15", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding this morning\u2019s announcement from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT):\n\n\u201cEarlier today, our distinguished President Pro Tem, the senior Senator for Vermont, announced that he will conclude his incredible run of Senate service. Senator Leahy plans to retire at the end of next year \u2014 at the conclusion of his eighth term.\n\n\u201cSenator Leahy has served Vermonters in the Senate for longer than anyone in the state\u2019s history. Of course, he has also become an all-time Senate institution in his own right.\n\n\u201cI think particularly of the opportunities I had to work closely with Senator Leahy when we were sharing leadership of the Appropriations subcommittee for State and Foreign Ops.\n\n\u201cIt is hard to imagine the Senate without Pat and his lovely wife Marcelle. For now, I just want to salute our colleague on the occasion of his announcement, and add my congratulations on his remarkable career thus far.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BCCF04AF-75FE-486E-9306-CF55481B1F36", "Democrats Finally Admit Inflation is a Problem \u2014 But Still Want Even More Reckless Spending", "2021-11-15", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cLast week, even more economic data continued to confirm that inflation is hammering working families across America.\n\n\u201cIn October, consumer prices saw their steepest spike in three decades. The worst inflation surge in more than 30 years.\n\n\u201cWhen I was back home last week, I heard constantly from Kentuckians who\u2019ve watched their gas prices and grocery prices soar.\n\n\u201cThis is happening in every state. Last month was the fifth straight month in which national consumer prices rose at least 5%.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 inflation crisis has gotten so bad that Washington Democrats have stopped trying to pretend that it\u2019s just transitory and are starting to admit that it\u2019s on them to fix it.\n\n\u201cThe same Democrats who spent months denying that inflation was a lasting problem, the last people in America to wake up to this reality, are now convinced they\u2019re just the people to fix it.\n\n\u201cBut their supposed solutions are more of the same absurd policies that helped dig this hole.\n\n\u201cAfter months of mostly ignoring the problem, President Biden finally responded to last week\u2019s inflation data by insisting that, \u2018reversing this trend is a top priority for me.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut \u2014surprise! \u2014 the President\u2019s preferred \u2018solution\u2019 just so happens to be the exact same reckless taxing and spending spree his Administration has been pushing for months now.\n\n\u201cThey cooked up this massive, multi-trillion-dollar spending spree back when they were saying inflation wasn\u2019t a major problem and it was still time to spend like crazy. But now, miraculously, that exact same spending binge happens to be their prescription to fight inflation?\n\n\u201cGive me a break. This is just a sweeping socialist wish list in search of a justification.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s another mega-dose of the same radical recklessness that Republicans have warned against all along\u2026 that American families are already paying dearly for, as we speak.\n\n\u201cBut so far, Democrats seem intent on grabbing the hot stove yet again \u2014 and it\u2019s American families who stand to get burned.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E8F1801D-2E18-40A5-9D12-298674E4CC39", "Overdue Defense Legislation Deserves a Robust, Bipartisan Senate Floor Process", "2021-11-15", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding NDAA:\n\n\u201cLast week, I had the honor of spending Veterans Day at the groundbreaking ceremony for Louisville\u2019s new VA hospital.\n\n\u201cWe are finally going to replace the city\u2019s original VA medical center that was built almost 70 years ago. Kentucky veterans are going to get new, expanded options for the cutting-edge treatment they deserve.\n\n\u201cThis long-awaited groundbreaking was a special day for Kentucky and our heroes.\n\n\u201cBut for me, the celebration also underscored how unfortunate and unacceptable it is that, when it comes to our legislative duties here in Washington, this Democratic Senate majority is coming up short on supporting our servicemembers past, present, and future.\n\n\u201cToday is November 15th. The full Senate should have considered, amended, and then passed an annual defense authorization bill months ago. That\u2019s how it normally works. It\u2019s a major bipartisan priority that the Senate majority focuses on, as a matter of basic governance.\n\n\u201cBut this unified Democratic government has been distracted from the people\u2019s business. They\u2019ve spent months behind closed doors, putting together another reckless taxing and spending spree. And this obsession with party-line wish lists has led Democrats to drop the ball on basic duties.\n\n\u201cKeeping our servicemembers and our commanders waiting months for an NDAA is just one example. The Democratic majority has also completely dropped the ball on a bipartisan appropriations process.\n\n\u201cAnd by the way, President Biden\u2019s proposals for funding the government would have us cut defense funding after inflation.\n\n\u201cAccording to reports, China recently tested a hypersonic vehicle that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Just this morning, according to some early press reports, Russia may have tested some kind of new anti-satellite weapon system.\n\n\u201cIn the Middle East, President Biden\u2019s own advisors are saying that his rushed retreat from Afghanistan will open the door for a terrorist resurgence.\n\n\u201cIt is against this dangerous backdrop that our Democratic majority does not move an NDAA until mid-November\u2026 and President Biden doesn\u2019t want defense funding to keep pace with President Biden\u2019s inflation.\n\n\u201cWell, Madam President, better late than never.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad the Democratic Leader says he will finally let the full Senate consider an NDAA in the coming days.\n\n\u201cThe Senate will need to have the kind of robust, bipartisan floor process that is customary for this important bill and we\u2019ll need to leave extraneous items on the sidelines.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/comer", "Comer Announces Forum on Role of PBMs in Drug Pricing", "2021-11-10", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014On Wednesday, November 17 at 10:00 a.m. ET, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and lawmakers will hold a forum on the impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in pharmaceutical markets with experts, pharmacists, physicians, and PBMs.\n\n\u201cAs Congress reviews the rising costs of prescription drugs in America, we must evaluate all aspects that are driving up costs for patients. Part of this review includes the role pharmacy benefit managers play in drug pricing and patient cost sharing. There are concerns PBMs may use their market power and role as middlemen to impact competition and drive up costs for Americans. At next week\u2019s forum, we plan to hear from healthcare and industry experts to learn more about PBMs and their impact on prescription drug prices,\u201d said Ranking Member Comer.\n\nPBMs are companies that manage prescription drug benefits for insurers, Medicare Part D drug plans, self-insured employers, and other payers, such as state Medicaid programs. PBMs were created to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies to decrease the cost of prescription drugs for patients, lower premiums, and decrease costs for payers. The PBM industry has significantly consolidated in the last ten years, and both large and small PBMs own and operate their own retail or mail-order pharmacies. As a result of consolidation, experts have expressed concerns PBMs\u2019 monopoly power no longer benefits payers and patients.\n\nWHAT: House Committee on Oversight and Reform Republican forum entitled \u201cReviewing the Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Pharmaceutical Markets\u201d\n\nWHEN: Wednesday, November 17 at 10:00 a.m. ET\n\nWHERE: 2247 Rayburn House Office Building\n\nWHO:\n\nWitness Panel\n\nDr. Erin Trish, PhD: Co-Director of the USC Schaeffer Center, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, USC School of Pharmacy\n\nMr. Antonio Ciaccia: Chief Executive Officer, 46Brooklyn Research\n\nDr. Jonathan Grider: PharmD, Owner of Lake Cumberland Pharmacy in Russell Springs, Ky.\n\nDr. Madeline Feldman, MD, FACR: President of the Coalition of State Rheumatology Practices and Chair of the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines\n\nMr. Ted Okon, MBA: Executive Director of the Community Oncology Alliance\n\nMs. Tiffany Jones, JD: Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Assistant General Counsel at SenderraRx\n\nMr. Kim Caldwell, RPh: Principal at Texas Star Healthcare Consulting, Former Vice President of Pharmacy Professional Affairs and Comprehensive Health Insights at Humana Inc.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=811D8C40-3FDF-40C0-905D-CF4F06F74353", "McConnell and Comer Break Ground on Barkley Regional Airport\u2019s New Terminal", "2021-11-10", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "PADUCAH, Kentucky \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Congressman James Comer (KY-01) joined state and local leaders in Paducah today to break ground on Barkley Regional Airport\u2019s new terminal project.\n\nBarkley Regional Airport received $32 million in federal funding to construct its new terminal and apron through the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP) discretionary funding, entitlement funds, and CARES Act relief funding. Senator McConnell and Congressman Comer contacted the FAA in support of the discretionary grants, and later contacted the FAA to ensure the complete and timely delivery of funding installments.\n\n\u201cThe supply chains and transit routes that run through our state keep America on the move. By building this new terminal, we are cementing our critical competitive advantage as a national leader in modern transportation infrastructure,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cAs the only congressional leader not from New York or California, I am fully aware of the vital importance of regional hubs like Paducah. I was proud to use my leadership position to help this project in any way I could and stand alongside Representative Comer while he did the same in the House of Representatives.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad to see this exciting new project get off the ground and look forward to seeing the positive economic benefits that a new airport terminal will have on the Paducah region,\u201d said Congressman Comer.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F256AEC1-E21F-47C9-9CC0-42E4BFCB0033", "McConnell Recognizes Kentucky Family as \u201cAngels in Adoption\u201d", "2021-11-10", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke with Jonathan and Caley Neely of Pineville, Kentucky, to congratulate them on being recognized as 2021 Angels in Adoption. Senator McConnell nominated the Neely family for the honor.\n\nThe Neely family\u2019s adoption journey began in May 2020 when they were matched with a young expecting mother with a history of drug addiction. Unfortunately, the mother relapsed into substance abuse during her pregnancy, raising the risk that her child would suffer health complications. The Neely family was given the opportunity to back out of the adoption process, but, driven by their faith, they committed to care for their future child regardless of the health challenges he might face. When their son Jackson was born, he tested positive for drugs and required extensive treatment. However, after three weeks in an intensive care unit, the Neelys were able to take Jackson home to Southeastern Kentucky, where he is now recovering at a quick pace.\n\n\u201cIt was a pleasure to be able to speak with the Neely family and hear their incredible story. They embody the love and selflessness that form the foundation of America\u2019s adoption system and I am proud to have them represent Kentucky in the Angels in Adoption program,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cOne of my greatest privileges as a Senator is meeting with Kentuckians like the Neelys and helping them receive the recognition they deserve. I wish Jonathan, Caley, and Jackson the best as they continue to grow together as a family.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are grateful for this nomination, to be a part of such an amazing adoption community, and for the Republican Leader\u2019s compassion. We want to thank Republican Leader McConnell for his continued investment in the adoption community and his passion to highlight such a special moment in the life of our family,\u201d said Jonathan Neely.\n\nAngels in Adoption is a public awareness campaign by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Each year, Members of Congress can nominate constituents who are helping to improve the lives of children in need of a loving family.\n\nFor Kentucky families who may also need assistance with adoption, please contact the Senator\u2019s office in Louisville at (502) 582-6304 or online: https://sen.gov/R4W4\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/op-ed-americans-deserve-to-know-the-full-story-behind-hunter-biden-s-overpriced-art/a02ce06c-b957-4ad6-9a50-e05c15e6a32d", "Op-Ed: Americans deserve to know the full story behind Hunter Biden's overpriced art.", "2021-11-09", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "Rep. James Comer: Americans deserve to know the full story behind Hunter Biden's overpriced art.\n\n\"Every artist,\" Ralph Waldo Emerson said, \"was first an amateur.\" Emerson was a century and a half too early, however, to witness the arrival of Hunter Biden \u2013 perhaps the only painter ever to land on the scene fully perfected.\n\nHis genius must be apparent given the exorbitant prices charged for a \"Biden\" and the level of interest (that is, none) from the congressional ethics sleuths who left no stone unturned regarding the extended trump family.\n\nNothing to see here, except artistic masterpieces.\n\nAfter covering for the Bidens during the 2020 campaign \u2013 remember the Hunter Biden laptop? \u2013 Democrats and the press have kept the blinders on. President Biden promised to hold himself to \"the highest standards of transparency,\" and they are apparently willing to take him at his word. Consequently, they refuse to examine the odd arrangement between the White House and Hunter Biden\u2019s gallerist, Georges Berg\u00e8s, in which purchasers of his art are kept anonymous.\n\nWhy is this a problem? His paintings are priced between $75,000 \u2013 more than the median annual American income \u2013 and $500,000 \u2013 more than the median price of a new American house. Paintings that some art experts have characterized as being of coffee shop caliber.\n\nPeople can spend their money as they wish, but when dealing with the son of the sitting president, it begs the question who \u2013 and why \u2013 anyone would pay top dollar for items that are arguably worthless?\n\nForeign agents \u2013 and others \u2013 have obvious incentives to access Hunter Biden, and through him the Oval Office. And as we know, Hunter Biden has previously sought to peddle influence and access to his powerful father. Berg\u00e8s has expressed his desire to be the \"lead guy\" in China for art, and his gallery is now covered by the Chinese media. Rather than plying patrons with free drinks and passed hors oeuvres, perhaps Berg\u00e8s is offering a chance at something else.\n\nThis is not a problem Republicans are prepared to just chalk up to Hunter being Hunter. We intend to examine a president\u2019s family member with a history of suspicious activity who is now engaging in an industry rife with criminal potential.\n\nThis is a potential national security issue with major ramifications for how this White House confronts a rival foreign power. Foreign adversaries, including China, have used transactions involving sham art sales to launder money and evade sanctions imposed by the United States. Art sold at inflated prices can easily be moved across borders and cash is often an accepted form of payment, which makes it challenging to track down who bought the art and where it is going.\n\nWe\u2019ve called on the Berg\u00e8s Gallery to provide us with documents and communications outlining its deal with the White House to keep Hunter Biden\u2019s patrons anonymous, but they have ignored our investigation.\n\nThe American people deserve answers. That is why I have requested the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the executive branch\u2019s ethics watchdog, to launch an investigation into the agreement between the White House, Hunter Biden and the Berg\u00e8s Gallery.\n\nAdditionally, I have called upon the chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to hold a hearing to examine Hunter\u2019s art deals. Given this committee has taken no action to hold the Biden administration accountable on any of the crises facing our nation \u2013 and was recently given an \"F\" in oversight by a nonpartisan group \u2013 I am doubtful Democrats will take the actions needed to canvass the White House\u2019s ethical dilemma.\n\nWith or without the assistance of our Democrat colleagues, Republicans on the Oversight Committee will match Biden and his collaborators' stonewalling with every tool at the minority party's disposal.\n\nDemocrats must show their loyalties are to the country, not the Bidens.\n\nIn the meantime, Republicans are not buying what Hunter Biden is selling. We suspect it isn\u2019t just art.\n\nRep. James Comer represents Kentucky's 1st Congressional District and is the Republican leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/11/congressman-comer-votes-no-on-step-one-of-biden-pelosi-spending-spree", "Congressman Comer Votes No on Step One of Biden/Pelosi Spending Spree", "2021-11-06", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "\"I voted NO last night on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed Congress in the dark of night. Less than 10% of the bill contained surface infrastructure, like roads and bridges, with significant money going toward things that do not affect Kentucky\u2019s 1st District \u2013 like mass transit and green energy. Even worse, Speaker Pelosi and President Biden have tied the infrastructure bill to their $3 trillion social spending bill, which initiates their Green New Deal pipe dream and empowers the IRS to spy on the finances of everyday Americans.\n\nThe passage of last night\u2019s infrastructure bill will inevitably lead to passage of the Biden/Pelosi social spending bill in two weeks, which I will also strongly oppose. Any member of Congress who voted yes last night can also take credit for passage of the massive socialist spending bill \u2013 which will undoubtedly lead to more inflation and government dependency.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=61084178-130B-44D4-B85A-ADB443ADF21B", "McConnell: Washington Democrats Ignoring Backlash to their Multi-Trillion-Dollar Nightmare", "2021-11-06", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement after House Democrats voted to advance Washington Democrats\u2019 reckless taxing and spending spree:\n\n\u201cIt says everything about today\u2019s Democratic Party that House Democrats held our country\u2019s basic infrastructure hostage for months over a reckless taxing and spending spree that would hurt families and help China.\n\n\u201cThe radical left refused to fund America\u2019s roads and bridges unless they got to advance a multi-trillion-dollar nightmare that would make inflation even worse, hammer Americans with tax hikes, make us more dependent on less affordable energy, and let the same woke bureaucrats who don\u2019t want parents involved in education extend their reach into infancy and early childhood. Clearly Washington Democrats have ignored the statement that voters made on Tuesday and may need to relearn the same lessons next year.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden can now sign the Senate\u2019s bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. Meanwhile, House Democrats just walked further down the plank for a far-left messaging document that nobody even pretends could pass the Senate or become law in its current form.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"], ["https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases?ID=C5D2332E-3F8F-439F-A7D8-E39E99AB71C8", "Congressman Rogers Votes Against Washington Democrats' Spending Binge", "2021-11-05", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Harold Rogers", "R000395", "halrogers.house.gov", "halrogers", "https://halrogers.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Harold \"Hal\" Rogers (KY-05) voted against the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill, H.R. 3684, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has delayed the bill for months, leveraging the nation's roads, bridges and broadband for a second bill - Biden's so called \"Build Back Better\" bill - that is designed to pay for Washington Democrats' extreme socialist agenda.\n\n\"We desperately need improvements to our infrastructure, especially in rural Kentucky, but the truth is that less than half of new spending in this bill goes toward real infrastructure projects, and this legislation is being used to coerce more Members to vote for a far more destructive spending binge that puts our country on a fast-track toward socialism,\" said Congressman Rogers. \"There is a better way to serve the American people. We not only need to repair our nation's infrastructure, we need to repair the deficit of trust that continues to grow with socialist schemes like this.\"\n\nThe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the bill only offsets costs by $180 billion, creating a roughly $400 billion shortfall.\n\nThe legislation also fails to reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process, despite the fact that the 6-year average delays on major projects cost our economy $3.7 trillion.\n\nHouse Democrats advanced the bill with a nearly party-line vote and it now moves on to the President for his signature.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 525, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"state\" = :p0 and \"year\" = :p1 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "KY", "p1": "2021"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 525, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021&party=Republican", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021", "results": [{"value": "House", "label": "House", "count": 304, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021&chamber=House", "selected": false}, {"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 221, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021&chamber=Senate", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021", "results": [{"value": "KY", "label": "KY", "count": 525, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?year=2021", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021", "results": [{"value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 525, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2021-11-05,https~3A~2F~2Fhalrogers~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fpress-releases~3FID~3DC5D2332E-3F8F-439F-A7D8-E39E99AB71C8", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2021&_next=2021-11-05%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fhalrogers~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fpress-releases~3FID~3DC5D2332E-3F8F-439F-A7D8-E39E99AB71C8&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 144.18938616290689, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}