Peter theres he deserves tremendous credit for that. It helps rescued our majorities, but it also showed the country that people do not like the direction we are going. We need to change direction. What i am excited about is we in congress, along with our nominee who is now the president elect offered a very specific , and clear agenda on which direction to take the country. That is now the direction we are going to go. That is why i am excited about working with our president elect, working with our Vice President elect, to make sure we hit the ground running. Speaker you say you want to , unify the country. There is a pervasive fear of so many people saying they do not know what to expect. They are worried about Civil Liberties being violated. What do you say to them . Speaker ryan i do not think you should be worried about Civil Liberties being violated. Take look at the judges he would choose from to put on the Supreme Court. These are people that respect the constitution. For those people who are concerned, for those who did not want the republicans to win, we have a very clear agenda. We believe in the principles that built this country. We believe in the constitution. We have an agenda to get people back to work, we want to bring accountability to the federal government we want the federal , government to respect the states. This is exciting. For those people who are concerned, this is the time to unify, the time to heal. I think, again our , president elect set the right tone last night with his speech, which was to be magnanimous, president ial, and bring people together. [inaudible] he said he would work with him on the transition. Speaker ryan yes. I do not worry about things like that, jake. I do not worry about interparty issues. I feel very good about where we are. Donald and i have had fantastic conversations in the last 18 hours. Mike pence and i had a great conversation about transition meetings. How do we make sure when his hand comes off the bible and he is sworn in as president , we are hitting the ground running and we are very excited about working with him to make sure that is the case. [inaudible] speaker ryan i will not get into reconciliation issues. I think that is something to be predetermined. I want to sit down with the president elect and his team to talk about what they want to achieve, what work they want to take up when they come in. This is something we are going to have to plan on this transition. But i have got to tell you, having been involved in these lameduck before it is very , exciting to be going into a lame duck with a republican president following right after. I am excited about that and we are going to coordinate with our president elect in what we are hoping to achieve in our lameduck. Thank you. Appreciate it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell commented on the president ial election and senate races in a press briefing on capitol hill. Looks forward to meeting with president elect donald trump. This is a half hour. [indistinct conversation] hope you are having as good a day as i am. [laughter] senator mcconnell before we get started, just one parochial matter. Kentucky had the unfortunate distinction until yesterday of being the only state in the south with a democratic legislative body. That changed dramatically yesterday as the republicans in the bluegrass state took the statehouse by defeating 17 democrats. When from 47 up to 64. Went from 47 up to 64. It had been almost as long as it had been since the cubs won the world series, 95 years of continuous democratic control. So that only added a little more happiness to my evening. To more current and national matters, senator schumer called yesterday and offered his cooperation. And i said that is certainly what i intended to do. And we talked again today. That is still the view of both of us, that we want to Work Together and see what we can accomplish for the American People, not only in a lame duck, but beginning next year. Also i have had a chance to talk , to the president and Vice President. To president elect trump and to Vice President elect pence. Ll today not only just offering congratulations were appropriate but about wrapping up business , this year. I am really proud of the races that we won. If you look across the country, as all of you know, we had a lot of exposure. 24 of us up, only 10 of our democrat friends, in a day where the American People were bracing themselves for major change. In the vote for president , it is noteworthy that only one or two Senate Incumbents were defeated. So, i think an appropriate way to look at the senate races, 18 of Senate Candidates actually ran ahead of the president ial candidate. In other races, somewhat of a mixed picture. But i think in a day when people , were voting for change, they did not decide they wanted to change the republican senate, which i am proud of, and of course many of our members had , bipartisan accomplishments to run on, as distinguished from the previous congress, where the senator from alaska had not been ever allowed to offer an amendment on a bill. We opened the senate up and gave people an opportunity to express themselves, offer ideas. In the case of several of our members, there were important accomplishments for their states that they were able to talk about during the course of the campaign. I want to particularly congratulate president elect trump. I think we all agree this was a stunning election, and clearly an indication the American People would like to try something new. And i know the speaker shares my view we would like to see the country go in a different direction and intend to work with him to change courses, to change the course for america. He will have the opportunity to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. As you know i said in february , of this year, to a hail of controversy, that i believe it best the American People decide who made this appointment to the Supreme Court. I thought i was on firm footing in doing that. It had been 80 years since a vacancy created in the middle of an Election Year was confirmed by the senate. 1888 to to go back to find it confirmed by the party of the president. The American People have spoken. President trump will send us a nominee, i assume, early next year. So with that let me throw it , open and see what you would like to discuss. Mr. Leader considering how , republicans balked at Merrick Garland year, there has never been an outright filibuster here of a justice. Why would you expect democrats to handle any nomination from a president elect trump any differently . And if they do block it, would you return the favor with a Nuclear Option . Senator mcconnell it wants apprise you to know that i will not address what might happen. We expect the new president will fill the vacancy. I expect it to be handled in the way these Court Appointments are typically handled. And i would not anticipate any particular strategy that the democrats might employ to defeat it or what we might do in reaction. Have you spoken with senator schumer . Senator mcconnell we have not discussed it. Do you think comprehensive tax reform is possible next year and what are your legislative priorities . Senator mcconnell we will be working with a new president on new priorities, but he talked about tax reform. I think this is really important. In the early part of my service in the senate, we did comprehensive tax reform in 1986. President reagan and democratic speaker tip oneill were revenue neutral for the government and to the maximum extent possible tried to make america more competitive by lowering the rates for as many as possible. President obama and i, and i know he had this conversation i am sure with speaker ryan as well. The current president is not interested in making it revenue neutral to the government. In other words he wanted more , money for the government. If you want to make america truly competitive, the goal ought to be when revenue is produced by the illumination of preferences, you use that to buy down the rates. We have a particular acute problem with the Corporate Tax rate, as everyone admits, thereby creating the opportunity for inversions and the like. What i would prefer to see, and i have not had a chance to talk to the president about this yet is comprehensive tax reform that , does not just lower taxes for the corporations who are having a hard time competing with the rest of the world, but for the rest of american businesses, which are not corporations. They are llcs. We need to have an agreement. And back in those days, we did it the last time, there were plenty of democrats on board. Bill bradley was a key player. And hopefully, that is the kind of thing we can have some ment on andagree have some progress for the country. You talked before about how republicans have a very favorable map. It is likely you will have the majority who until your own next election in 2020. Are you starting to think about what sort of legacy you will have or what kind of stamp you can make on america in the next four years . Senator mcconnell no. [laughter] senator mcconnell we have not started the next congress yet. There will be plenty of time to talk about legacies later. I wondered if you had a preference for how long you would like to fund the government. That is going to come up and about one month. Would you like to go just until trump takes over . Are you thinking omnibus . What is your, wheres your head on that . Senator mcconnell we havent really talked on that. There are two priorities. If you raise how are you going , to fund the government . Second, excuse me, second, the 21st century chewers bill cures bill. The president is interested in precision medicine. I am interested in the regenerative medicine. Chairman upton has done terrific work on this. I would like to see us finish that important new measure this year. And the president and i discussed those two matters this morning. In june, you expressed concerns about donald trump, his comments about hispanics potentially harming the partys relationship with hispanics similar to the way goldwater did with africanamericans. Do you still share those concerns . Do you still have those concerns, or one . Number one . Number two, do you support his central policy idea to build a wall . Senator mcconnell i am not going to relitigate the events of the past. We have a new president. I would like to see him get off on a positive start. And i think we should look forward, not backward, kind of rehash and relitigate the various debates we had internally and with the democrats over the past year. What about the wall . Senator mcconnell we will be talking to the president about his agenda. Border security is important. I think even our democratic friends realize we have not done a very good job of that. Achieving Border Security is something that ought to be high on the list. Personal preference on the wall . Senator mcconnell i want to try to achieve Border Security in whatever way is the most effective. Senator, do the Election Results signal an end to the war on coal . And if so, how does that affect your agenda in the next congress, and what does that mean for coal jobs in kentucky . Senator mcconnell well, you know, the war on coal is not a result of any legislation we have passed this past year. The president will take a look at the unilateral actions the president took through executive orders and Regulatory Overreach of one kind or another. Coal industry is a perfect example of that. There were a lot of others. And see how much he can undo. The unilateral actions the president took all by himself, which would not require us. So, i think, in looking why the countrys has had such slow growth, the most tepid recovery after a deep recession since world war ii, overregulation is the principal reason why the president did not have one year of 3 growth. And you saw a lot of people who voted for the new president yesterday. Frustrated they may not have put it this way, but the lack of growth is the reason for lack of opportunity and jobs. We got to get this economy going again. We got to take our foot off the brake and put it on the accelerator. Much of that can be done by the president alone because much of the problem has been created by this president alone. So we will be working with the , legislation to make suggestions about what kind of unilateral action he can take to undo some of this Regulatory Overreach that has slowed the economy. Coals a good example. Can you characterize how you see the Senate Majoritys relationship with president elect trump . Is it to be a partner, is it to be a facilitator of his agenda . And do you think he shares your perception of the role of the Senate Majority in his coming term . Senator mcconnell i know hes really happy. We still have a republican majority. And we look forward to working with him. I think most of the things he is likely to advocate we will be enthusiastically for. Where we have differences of opinion, i expect to discuss them privately. And not sort of hashing them out in public. The goal would be to get on the same page to turn the country in a different direction. Look we have had a tutorial over , the last eight years in big government. Taxes, regulation, big debt. We know it does not work. You do all this stuff, you get slow growth. So in order to get the country , growing again, we need to undo much of that. And the good news is a lot of it , was done by the president by himself, so we are going to be enthusiastically supportive almost all the time. And where we have differences, we will talk about them privately and see if we can work them out. What is your plan on Health Care Going forward . Do you plan on repealing obamacare right away . Senator mcconnell it is a pretty high item on our agenda, as you know. And i would be shocked if we did not move forward to keep our commitment to the American People. It was the single worst piece of legislation among many add bad pieces of legislation passed in the first two years of the obama presidency. The sooner we can go into different direction the better. , any chance it comes up in the lameduck . Any chances it comes up to president jump . Senator mcconnell you would have to ask him. Tpa is still in place if the next president wants to negotiate a trade agreement. He has the opportunity to do that and to send it up. The framework president obama has negotiated . Senator mcconnell it will certainly not be brought up this year. Yeah. It would be up to discussion s with the new president. I think the president elect made it clear he does not favor the current agreement. But he has the latitude because tpa is in place during that next administration, to negotiate better deals if he chooses to, sending them up for an expedited up or down vote. In september, you said you wanted to move through a series of bills. Did the election outcome change that plan . Senator mcconnell we will be talking with the speaker and the president about how to wrap up spending this year. You are asking me a procedural question. I do not blame you. But i do not know the answer. We would like to finish funding the government this year. Exactly how to achieve that over a threeweek period is a matter for discussion. How to package it, differences in the house and senate. But i would like to wrap up the business of funding the government in this fiscal year, this calendar year. Mcconnell, do you plan to use budget reconciliation for the repeal and replacement . Senator mcconnell youre asking me a question you know i am not going to answer. Let us just stipulate that every single republican thought obamacare was a mistake, without exception. That is still our view. You can expect us with a new president who has the same view, to address the issue. Do you support the stated goals of withdrawing from nato and forming a closer alliance with russia . Look, imcconnell yeah, want to look forward. I will say for myself i think the Nato Alliance is every bit as important today as it ever was. I think article 5 means something. You attack any member of nato, you have us to deal with. I want the russians to understand that fully. The last time there was unified control of the white house, senate, and the house, your belief was the democrats in 20092010 had acted too fast on their own unilaterally with no bipartisanship in the stimulus, aca doddfrank. , how do you avoid those mistakes given the views of your voters, Republican Voters right now . Senator mcconnell let me just answer sort of broadly. I think it is always a mistake to misread your mandate. And frequently, new majorities think it is going to be forever. Nothing is forever in this country. We have an election every two years right on schedule since 1788. And so i do not think we should , act as if we are going to be in the majority forever. We have been given a temporary lease on power, if you will, and i think we need to use it responsibly. I think what the American People are looking for is results. To get results in the senate, it requires some democratic participation and cooperation. We were able to do that during the first obama tenure in the deals for example that i negotiated with biden on three different occasions. We are going to be looking for bipartisan support. And i think overreaching after an election is, generally speaking, a mistake. One of the items that has been on the president elects agenda has been congressional term limits, which in my memory, is not something you have been a particular fan of. What would you say on whether or not that would have any chance senator mcconnell we have term limits now. They are called elections and they will not be on the agenda in the senate. Any chance that now the republicans control all the aspects of the government that you might reconsider the earmark moratorium . Senator mcconnell i dont think so. We have a bipartisan issue that has support on both sides of the aisle, do you think that is something you can look at . Criminal Justice Reform is something that has supports on both sides of the aisle. Is that something you look at in the new congress . It has not made it into legislation. Senator mcconnell in terms of scheduling the senate, we have Serious Division among republicans. On that i would not rule it out. , i do not want to speak for the speaker. He said something about whether or not they might tackle it. So that might be a good question to ask him. If they send a bill over to us, well take a good hard look at it. It is a pretty spirited debate. Not only on a philosophical basis. I have some conservative members who are in favor of it and opposed to it. And so it did not look to me , like a good agenda item for us at this point, but i would not want to rule it out for next congress. Senator mcconnell back to the , Supreme Court issue. Can you help us understand how much advising and consenting will you be doing . Senator mcconnell i was pleased the president elect was already asking for our advice. As you know, many of us made suggestions when he put together a list of prospective nominees. He was in effect, asking for our advice. And i think he will be open to , that. And i, for one, intend to take advantage of it. I have got a few suggestions or make. Ould like to i will not mention that to you. I think he is open to our suggestions about that. I think it is good. You mentioned a few things in the lameduck. You had mentioned attacks. Is that something that will be in play . Know, imcconnell you am not sure we are doing extenders, are we . I dont know the answer to that. The best answer, when you dont know, just say you dont know. You and senator reed have reid have been famously at odds now. Senator mcconnell we were both sad that the nats did make it past the first round again. I am with you on all of this. [laughter] oncan i ask you to extend your relationship with senator schumer and can you expect a different relationship . What sort of does he bring to the table that you can work with . What will be trouble areas . Senator mcconnell i think we are getting along fine. You guys like to write these personality pieces. He has got a job to do and i have got a job to do. I respect him. I think he is very smart. I think we will be fine. We both have our roles to play. I dont expect him to enthusiastically embrace my agenda. On the other hand, to do things in the senate, you have to have some bipartisan support unless you are like the democrats in 2009 with 60 votes, and they 2010, paid a big price for it. Two years later, thats what it gets back to pauls question earlier. Can you describe your relationship with governor pence . Do you expect him to be a chief liaison to capitol hill . Senator mcconnell i really like mike pence. If you ask any of us who served with him, everybody likes him. We all thought it was a great choice that president elect trump made in picking him. I would just mention the way Vice President cheney worked with us, he was at many of our tuesday lunches. You know that dick cheney was a classic guy that did not necessarily say anything all the time. But he was like a sponge, absorbing what our concerns were. And he acted almost like president bushs senate liaison. And i have mentioned that the Vice President pence and to Vice President pence and i hope he will attend our tuesday policy lunches when he is in town and kind of be our liaison between the administration and the senate, much like Vice President cheney was. Yeah . Regarding the majority, the Senate Leadership fund says that when the democrats started to raise a lot of money in
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