[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 106 (Wednesday, July 9, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ENERGY REGULATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, earlier this week I hosted a tele-
townhall with people from across western Kentucky, from places such as 
Lyon County and Webster County. These constituents shared their 
thoughts on a range of issues, from ObamaCare to taxes, but one issue 
kept coming up over and over again. The Kentuckians I spoke with were 
truly worried about the Obama administration's war on coal jobs. They 
have seen the devastation in eastern Kentucky, and they know what the 
President's newest regulations will likely mean for middle-class 
families such as theirs: skyrocketing utility bills, higher prices, 
fewer jobs. They know the administration's war is an elitist crusade 
that threatens to shift good, well-paying jobs overseas, splinter our 
manufacturing base, and throw yet another load onto the backs of 
middle-class Kentuckians who have already struggled so much.
  The hard-working people I represent are worried enough just about 
making their mortgage payments and paying for car repairs and coping 
with energy bills and summer vacations. These are the people whom 
President Obama and his Washington Democratic allies should be 
listening to--not to liberal elites who have been begging the President 
to go after the coal industry and the people whose livelihoods depend 
on it. But President Obama does not seem terribly interested in those 
folks or their problems. Once again he will be off campaigning this 
week. He will huddle with more leftwing ideologues--the folks who love 
to make a buck off of coal and then attack coal families with ego-
driven political crusades, such as the ideologue the President rolled 
out the red carpet for just a few weeks ago down at the White House.
  Meanwhile, here in the Senate the Democratic majority will continue 
to block and tackle for the President and his anticoal offensive. 
Senate Democrats block basically every attempt--every attempt, however 
small--to inject congressional oversight into the administration's 
energy regulations. They shut down votes. They obstruct the committee 
process that should be at the heart of our work. They even gag their 
own Members.
  They blocked commonsense legislation such as the Coal Country 
Protection Act. What that bill--my bill--would do is require the 
administration to certify that jobs will not be lost and utility rates 
will not go up as a result of the President's energy regulations. That 
is not too much to ask. But Washington Democrats are blocking my bill 
because they know the President's regulations will cost jobs and will 
raise utility rates, and they are more interested in protecting the 
President's ideological agenda than jobs.
  In other words, Senate Democrats block and tackle and obstruct--all 
to defend the President's war on coal jobs. It is a clear case of 
extreme devotion, and it makes sense because the Democratic majority 
really only has one mission these days: Protect the President and the 
left at all costs. That is why the average Democratic Senator has 
almost no power anymore. Our friends on the other side of the aisle do 
not ever get to do anything. They are just another backbencher 
fortifying President Obama's Senate moat--the place where good ideas go 
to die. It is a shame.
  The Senate used to be a place where big ideas were debated and 
serious solutions were explored. Committees operated and amendments 
were offered. I remember a time not too long ago when there was even 
such a thing as an independent-minded Senate Democrat. But today's 
Democratic leadership has put an end to all of that.
  It is about time our Washington Democratic friends open their eyes to 
the true cost of the President's policies, both in my State and in 
theirs.
  It is time for these Washington Democrats to stop pretending they are 
not complicit in the administration's war on coal jobs or in the harm 
it is causing to our constituents because there is real pain out there. 
Beyond the Democratic echo chamber, there is real pain out there, out 
in the real world, in places such as Pike County.
  Washington Democrats need to understand that Kentuckians are more 
than just some statistic on the bureaucratic balance sheet. These are 
real Americans who are hurting, and they deserve to have their voices 
heard. One way to do that, as I have suggested, is for the 
administration to hold some listening sessions on its new energy 
regulations in the areas that stand to suffer the most from them, in 
places such as eastern and western Kentucky. I have already issued 
multiple invitations for the President's people to visit places in my 
home State. I am issuing one again today.

  The sad truth is that officials in Washington do not want to come 
anywhere near coal country. They just want to impose their regulations, 
hear some ``feedback'' from the echo chamber in order to check a box, 
and then move right along to the next front in their war on coal. They 
do not even want to talk to the very people they intend to put out of 
work. Well, several tele-townhall participants want to know why the 
President will not come down to see the mines and the coal families 
themselves. I am wondering too.
  Mr. President, the campaign trips can wait. You recently expressed an 
interest in hanging around middle-class Americans for a change. What I 
am saying is, here is a perfect chance. Come on down to Kentucky and 
talk to some coal miners.

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