[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week, President Trump gave his 
first major address to the Nation. The week before, President Obama 
gave his last. These are different men. They come from different 
parties, but their speeches were more similar than you might think, and 
there were some common themes: The world is dangerous, our economy 
isn't living up to its potential, Americans are divided, worried about 
their futures and don't feel like Washington is listening.
  Here is one quote:

       Too many families, in inner cities and in rural counties, 
     have been left behind--the laid-off factory worker; the 
     waitress or health care worker who's just barely getting by 
     and struggling to pay the bills--convinced that the game is 
     fixed against them, that their government only serves the 
     interest of the powerful--that's a recipe for more cynicism 
     and polarization in our politics.

  That was former President Obama at the end of his term. It is obvious 
the situation today for many families simply isn't sustainable. As my 
friend the Democratic leader said in his speech on inauguration day, 
``We live in a challenging and tumultuous time.'' Our economy, he 
cautioned, leaves ``too many behind.'' Our politics, he warned, is 
``consumed by rancor,'' and we face threats ``foreign and domestic.''
  Americans are reeling after 8 years of grand promises and diminished 
dreams, leftwing experiments and heavy-handed overreach. Small 
businesses are literally drowning in regulations, bigger employers, as 
well. College graduates are struggling to make it and too often simply 
move back in with their parents. The middle class feels under assault, 
as kitchen tables pile ever higher with health care bills, energy 
bills, and paychecks that fail to keep pace. Americans feel like they 
don't have a say in what is happening either.
  So let us not underestimate the challenges President Trump is 
inheriting. They are indeed formidable. There is a lot to fix, but we 
can move forward if we work together. The first thing we have to do is 
move beyond this us-and-them mentality that has so often characterized 
the last 8 years. Our goal should be to give confidence to everyone, 
regardless of race, religion or income, regardless of where someone 
lives or whom they voted for. We are all in this together. We rise and 
fall as one.
  When I applied for the job of majority leader, I vowed to open up the 
Senate for a reason. I thought it would give more Americans a voice 
again. I thought it would give both sides skin in the game again. I 
thought it would bring us closer to durable solutions, and it has--on 
education, on transportation, on the fight against cancer, on so many 
other issues we passed meaningful legislation that can positively 
impact millions. The way we did it was simple--really simple, actually. 
We set the slogans aside. We listened to each other. We listened in 
good faith. We kept our focus where it truly belonged, on areas where 
both sides can agree. Wouldn't you know it, it turns out we actually 
agreed on a lot. It turns out we all want to give our kids a better 
future, turns out we all want better roads and infrastructure, turns 
out we all want a country that is healthy. It seems obvious, but we can 
forget these things in the midst of a divisive campaign. We can get 
lost in the politics and lose sight of our common humanity.
  The campaign is over. The time for governing is upon us, and we face 
huge challenges. Many of these issues President Obama sought to solve. 
Sometimes his policies moved us forward. More often, they moved us 
backward or created new problems altogether. This is not an attack on 
the sincerity of his aims. It is a critique of the efficacy of his 
means.

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