Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell visited the Hopkinsville Rotary Club on Tuesday and talked about foreign policy and domestic matters impacting the nation and his disappointments in the current presidential administration.
McConnell has served as a senator of Kentucky since 1985 making him the longest-serving senator in the state’s history.
Before attending the Rotary Club’s meeting, McConnell participated in a ribbon cutting at Fort Campbell for a new barracks complex that is replacing a complex that was built in the 1980s.
McConnell worked to help Fort Campbell gain funding to construct the new barracks complex and says it’s good for enlisting soldiers to not have to live in a complex built during the Vietnam War.
While spotlighting Fort Campbell, McConnell talked about the military’s operations abroad. McConnell says it is much more expensive to fund a war than to fund operations to avoid war. In recent years, McConnell says military funding has taken a dip and has not been adjusted for inflation.
He also says that the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan was not a smart move from President Joe Biden’s administration. Without the presence of the U.S. military, McConnell says it may lead to regional conflicts rising.
Further discussing his dissatisfaction, McConnell believes the Democratic party has made two errors, not working to reduce inflation or addressing immigration issues at the southern border. McConnell says he is against having an open border, but he supports legal immigration, as his wife is a legal immigrant.
Although he is finishing his final term as Senate Leader, McConnell says he will still serve as a senator and will continue to emphasize the importance of defense and foreign policy as he is not impressed by how either has been addressed by Democrats and Republicans.
McConnell’s current term as senator concludes in 2027.
