One member of Kentucky’s congressional delegation will travel with Biden to Kentucky
Republican Rep. James Comer is the sole member of Kentucky’s congressional delegation traveling with President Biden on Wednesday as he tours storm damage in western Kentucky.
The president, Comer and other federal officials will tour Fort Campbell --which is being used as a makeshift command center for relief and recovery efforts -- and then spend the afternoon in Mayfield, Princeton and Dawson Springs, touring the wreckage and hearing from local residents on the ground.
Neither Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell or Sen. Rand Paul will accompany the president, declining the White House invitation to travel on Air Force One, though both have plans to return later in the week following Senate votes.
“Dr. Paul, who spent time on Sunday surveying the damage in Bowling Green, KY will be in D.C. for votes on Wednesday and then plans to head back to the commonwealth at the end of the week to continue meeting with folks on the ground across Western Kentucky,” said Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper.
McConnell has only said he will return “toward the end of the week.”
“My team has been working non-stop to ensure Kentuckians receive the help they need,” he said.
The Senate is convening Wednesday morning to finalize work on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2022 and consider a U.S. District judge for New Hampshire.
Late Tuesday night, the U.S. House held a moment of silence for the victims of last weekend’s catastrophic tornadoes, which took the lives of at least 74 Kentuckians and left 100 more missing.
“On behalf of all the citizens of western Kentucky, I want to thank everyone in America for the outpouring of support, the prayers, the financial support, the people who took off and traveled to western Kentucky to help remove debris and save people who were trapped under roofs and buildings that had been collapsed,” said Rep. Comer. “The devastation there is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 10:27 AM.