"Views from Senate Republican Leader - Senator Mitch McConnell"

On November 15, 2006, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell was unanimously elected Republican Leader in the 110th Congress by his Republican colleagues. Having first been elected to the Senate in 1984, Senator McConnell has won four consecutive terms and now holds the record for being the longest-serving Republican Senator from Kentucky.

Senator McConnell currently serves as a senior member of three committees: The Appropriations Committee, The Rules Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. In the past ten years, he has been involved in the acquisition of $981 million in funds for our region for projects like the River Heritage Museum, Paducah Riverport, and Barkley Regional Airport.

In an effort to give us a first-hand view of his position, Senator McConnell explained to Rotarians and Guests that a great deal of his time is spent "feeding his crew." To give us an idea of the operations of the Senate, McConnell went on to explain that there could not be a more pronounced difference between it and the House, most notably in the amount of time that the Senate requires to make decisions. The Senate serves the country cautiously and carefully to prevent mistakes that could result from decisions made in the heat of passion. He eloquently described the Senate as Washington once did: "As the saucer beneath a teacup that catches hot tea and gives it a place to cool off."

Senator McConnell spoke to Rotarians about his position on the war in Iraq. He explained that the post 9/11 strategy was one of offense rather than defense so as to increase the chance of protecting Americans at home. Although we have seen increases to defense strategies here at home, neither an increase in defense nor plain luck should be attributed to the reasons that we have not seen a repeat of 9/11. This, instead, should be attributed to the disruption of activities by those who could once pull off such an act.

Where, when and how should our efforts in Iraq end? McConnell urges us to remember that our enemies have been at war for a long time as evidenced by the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa. Our response to 9/11 was to go to war with them not in an effort to spread democracy to those at war with us, but rather in an effort to protect our homeland. It is McConnell's opinion that America will be best protected with long-term military deployment in the Middle East: not necessarily in combat but rather to maintain a U.S. military presence against Iran and Al-Qaida and further deter future terrorist activity.

In addition to his position on the War on Terror, Senator McConnell also addressed issues such as the current state of Social Security and Medicare programs and the need for Kentucky to address and deal with emerging energy issues. He reminded Rotarians that with each election we have the opportunity to do something and force change. When a fellow Rotarian jokingly asked if he'd consider being drafted as the Republican candidate for President in 2008, McConnell declined, emphasizing that he loves his current position and requests our continued support of him in this role.

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