McConnell calls for amendments to outsourcing bill

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wants a vote on his Save Coal Jobs Act as an amendment to a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas.

“Since the majority leader seems so determined to convince everyone that he cares about protecting American jobs this week, I’m going to offer him an opportunity to prove that he’s serious too,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday. “He can do it by allowing a vote — or even voting himself — for an amendment of mine called the Saving Coal Jobs Act.”

{mosads}The Senate is considering S. 2569, the Bring Jobs Home Act, which would give companies incentives to bring jobs back to the United States, including a tax write-off for the relocating costs and an additional 20 percent credit.

McConnell said Republicans have several proposals that would also ensure jobs stay in America, such as his bill.

“Everyone knows the administration’s War on Coal Jobs is little more than an elitist crusade that threatens to undermine Kentucky’s traditionally low utility rates, splinter our manufacturing base, and ship well-paying jobs overseas,” McConnell said. “So the majority leader has a choice: Is he in favor of shipping Kentucky jobs overseas, or will he help me protect middle class families by supporting this amendment?”

McConnell’s bill would force the administration to prove that an Environmental Protection Agency regulation on the carbon emissions of coal-fired power plants wouldn’t result in higher energy costs and lost jobs before it could be implemented.

McConnell said Democrats using the Bring Jobs Home Act to help themselves in the November elections.

“If Senate Democrats were half as concerned about American jobs as they were about saving their own jobs this November, there’d be almost no limit to what we could accomplish,” McConnell said. “The Senate is becoming little more than a campaign studio this week.”