Senate

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday accused the Environmental Protection Agency of trying to drive the Kentucky coal industry out of business.

“Of course the EPA’s real goal here is not to see the Kentucky coal industry comply with its boatload of regulations and red tape, it’s to see the Kentucky coal industry driven out of business altogether,” said McConnell, as reported by Kentucky Public Radio.

Senate committees are expecting a relatively quiet workweek when the Senate returns on Monday.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will work on confirming Ryan Crocker to be the ambassador to Afghanistan, while the Senate Judiciary Committee will work on President Obama's request to extend the term of FBI Director Robert Mueller.

The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on a program that would "develop and demonstrate" two designs for small nuclear reactors, and also on a bill that would repeal some restrictions on domestic energy production. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Wednesday said Texas governor Rick Perry would be a contender for the presidency in 2012 if he entered the race. 

"I think he'd have a good story to tell ... about the Texas success story and the Texas model," Cornyn said, according to the Miami Herald.

"I have no knowledge as to whether he intends to run," said Cornyn. "He's spent a fair amount of time talking about what is wrong with Washington and what's right in Texas. I don't know whether he really wants to go into the lion's den in Washington, D.C." Read more...

Sen. Richard Burr, (R-N.C.) on Wednesday said the 112th Congress has been the least productive of any he has seen since he was elected to the House back in 1992.

“In the 17 years that I’ve served, I have never seen a less productive period than I have over the last five months,” Burr said. “In part because of politics, but also in part because of the magnitude of the issues that we’re dealing with.” Read more...

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) on Wednesday applauded the Senate's defeat of the Ryan 2012 budget plan calling it a "dangerous budget proposal" and accusing Republicans of being on a "mission to destroy Medicare."

 “Senate Democrats defeated a dangerous budget proposal in Washington last week that would have ended Medicare as we know it,” Lautenberg said while speaking at a rally for senior citizens according to New Jersey Today. “Despite our victory, Republicans in Washington are not giving up on their mission to destroy Medicare.” Read more...

GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) made the comments during a campaign stop in Iowa.

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) took a step back from the GOP's budget proposal on Tuesday, saying it was the start of conversation.

Boozman voted for the Republican plan when it came up in the Senate last week. The proposal, put together by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), contains a controversial provision that turns Medicare into a voucher-like system for those under the age of 55.

Freshman Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Tuesday expressed frustration with the glacial pace of the Senate and called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to stop “playing games.”

“I'm a little bit frustrated at times — most recently by the four votes we did regarding the budget,” Brown said in an interview with the home-state Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Brown was referring to a series of failed votes the Senate took last week on Republican and Democratic budget proposals. 

 “None of them had a chance of passing,” said Brown, one of just five Senate Republicans to vote against a budget proposal authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.). Democrats have blasted Ryan’s proposal and credit it with their victory in a special election last week for a New York House seat. Read more...

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Tuesday held a press conference to tout legislation he introduced that would prevent the federal government from bailing out state governments teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

"Should the federal government do that, we would first of all break historic precedent, and secondly we would put further pressure on the credit of the United States, which is already in jeopardy following the report of the S&P rating agencies," Kirk said at his Chicago office.