Heidi Alexander: “I thank my friend of 40 years, the Republican leader, for being here for these remarks I am about to make. I thank my…”

“I thank my friend of 40 years, the Republican leader, for being here for these remarks I am about to make. I thank my colleague, Senator Corker, and several other of my Republican colleagues for, on very short notice, coming to the Senate floor for these brief remarks. Next January, following the annual retreat of Republican Senators, I will step down from the Senate Republican leadership. My colleagues have elected me as Republican conference chairman three times, and I will have completed 4 years or the equivalent of two 2-year terms at that time. My reason for doing that is this, stepping down from the Republican leadership will liberate me to spend more time trying to work for results on issues I care the most about. That means stopping runaway regulations, runaway spending, but it also means confronting the timidity that allows health care spending to squeeze out support for roads, support for research, support for scholarships, and other government functions that make it easier and cheaper to create private sector jobs. I wish to do more to make the Senate a more effective place to address serious issues. For 4 years in our caucus, my leadership job has been this: to help the leader succeed, to help individual Republicans succeed, to look for a consensus within our caucus, and to suggest a message. I have enjoyed that.…”