TAYLOR COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Three Trees Church in Campbellsville resembles a warehouse. It’s full of clothing, non-perishable food items, diapers, and other supplies that are much-needed by those who lost everything in December tornadoes that tore through portions of western Kentucky.
On Tuesday, as part of the many stops he made in the region, Senator Mitch McConnell came to the church for an update on the status in Taylor County. While here, he promised to throw the full weight of the federal government behind this recovery effort.
“Our job is to keep in touch and make sure if the federal government comes up short, we try to prod them to do what they need to do,” the Senate Minority Leader said. McConnell added that he will ensure that federal assistance continues to flow through here for as long as it is legal for it do so.
“This is going to take a while. We have to keep an eye on staying for the long haul because this recovery doesn’t happen instantly,” he said.
McConnell said the federal response has been good thus far, and that Governor Andy Beshear seems to have responded well too. But he knows supplies inside a church like this will only help so much.
“In Mayfield, for example, the whole city has been wiped out,” McConnell accurately noted of a downtown area that was demolished in that storm.
The senator also thanked Kentuckians for the amazing work they’ve done to show and offer support to the victims.
“It’s an amazing facility here that’s received goods from around the country. An amazing example of leadership and giving back and rallying for people who are in deep trouble,” he said.
With December’s expiration of the Child Tax Credit monthly payments, McConnell was asked if he and Senate Republicans might be in support of stand-alone legislation that could reinstate those payments to those in need, including the millions of families in Kentucky who were benefiting from those each month since July.
“We will talk about anything,” (with Democrats), McConnell stated, before insisting that they must find a way to curtail spending to have meaningful negotiations on new pieces of legislation.
“President Biden ran as a moderate, and we haven’t seen that thus far. Maybe he’ll pivot now,” Senator McConnell said.
