[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 176 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S6679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MIDTERM ELECTIONS AND NEW SENATORS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week, our narrowly divided country 
went to the polls and elected a narrowly divided Congress, including a 
very narrowly divided U.S. Senate.
  The next couple of months will see a number of long-serving Senate 
all-stars taking retirement, but today we are getting to welcome and 
meet our new soon-to-be colleagues on both sides of the aisle as the 
new Senators-elect arrive here in the Capitol for orientation. Among 
their ranks are an all-star lawyer and leader from Alabama, the 
attorney general from the great State of Missouri, the Lieutenant 
Governor of Pennsylvania, a businessman and best-selling author from 
Ohio, and three distinguished Members of the House of Representatives.
  Exactly 25 years ago, in remarks welcoming the new Senate class of 
1996, Senator Robert Byrd told them that service in this body is both 
``a supreme honor,'' ``a serious responsibility,'' and ``the highest 
political calling in the land.'' The famous student of the Senate's 
rules and history, our former colleague from West Virginia concluded 
that ``as long as the Senate retains the power to amend and the power 
of unlimited debate, the liberties of the people will remain secure.''
  So, Mr. President, it is a high bar to earn the trust of one's 
neighbors to represent them and fight for their home State here in this 
Chamber. Each of our soon-to-be colleagues has cleared this high bar. I 
am proud to welcome members of what will be the 118th Congress freshman 
class. I hope sincerely that each of our incoming colleagues will 
embrace the honor of this immense responsibility. Of course, our half 
of the Chamber hopes that, even after this week, we will be not quite 
through with welcoming new Senators.
  Democrats' unforced policy errors over the past several years have 
hit working families in the State of Georgia especially hard. Under 
one-party Democratic control in Washington and one-party representation 
here in the Senate, the Peach State has paid an especially painful 
price.
  Since President Biden took the oath of office, Georgia families have 
watched prices rise nearly 15 percent. They have shelled out hundreds 
of extra dollars every month just to foot the bill for the massive, 
reckless spending binge their two Democratic Senators pushed through 
with deciding votes. Needless to say, this completely avoidable 
Democratic inflation tax put Georgia workers and small businesses in a 
heck of a bind.
  ``It's absolutely murderous,'' one man in Columbus, GA, told 
reporters. ``Food, gas prices. Inflation is awful.''
  Of course, it didn't have to be this way. The people of Georgia's 
Senators didn't have to vote in lockstep with Washington Democrats to 
overheat our economy with reckless spending. Georgia's two Democratic 
Senators didn't have to vote for the $2 trillion in inflationary 
spending. They didn't have to vote for hundreds of billions of dollars 
in leftwing climate policies. But every single time that the hard-
working people of Georgia have needed a check and balance, their 
Democratic Senators only gave them a rubberstamp. When Georgians needed 
their Senators to stand up with independence, they just fell in line.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.

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