The 2019 Senate under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) received a failing grade from one of the largest Catholic social justice groups in America this week.
McConnell has repeatedly boasted about being the “grim reaper” of the Senate, refusing to bring any progressive legislation up for a vote in the chamber, let alone actually pass it.
Everything from universal healthcare to climate legislation to election security has all been blocked by McConnell, resulting in his Senate being called a “legislative graveyard.”
Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice kept a scorecard and found that McConnell took do-nothingism to a whole new disgusting level.
“This is shocking,” executive director Sister Simone Campbell said in a statement. “In Network’s 47-year history, we have never seen a Senate take absolutely no votes on issues of economic justice that could be scored on our Catholic Social Justice Voting Record. McConnell’s Senate Graveyard is a shocking failure in leadership and an immoral act of partisanship. This obstruction will not be forgotten in the 2020 election.”
Indeed, the group found that the House passed at least 400 bills in 2019, contradicting Republican claims that Democrats could not legislate and investigate President Donald Trump at the same time. But most of those bills are sitting on McConnell’s desk gathering dust.
“The Democrat-led House has paved the way for the economic and social transformation that our nation so desperately needs,” Campbell said. “The House has passed bills that support employment rights, reduce drug prices, protect Dreamers, and secure our democracy. If passed into law, these bills will help create a society that faithfully promotes justice and the dignity of all.”
The group also stressed that voting in November is the best way to fix what’s wrong with the Senate.
“The Senate is broken, and only a change in leadership can fix it,” Campbell said. “That’s why Network will mobilize our Catholic membership in 2020 to elect new leaders who support economic justice. We know the path forward. The only way to see it through is to vote.”
While House Democrats are productively passing legislation that would help the country, McConnell is content with ignoring the suffering. This cannot be tolerated by the American people. It’s time to flip the Senate to Democrats in November along with the White House so our government can start getting things done again. It’s the right thing to do.
Featured Image: Wikimedia
