Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Speaker John A. Boehner on the Senate floor Friday following Boehner’s announcement earlier in the day that he would resign from Congress at the end of October. “He’s an ally, he’s a friend, and he took over as Republican leader at a very difficult time for his party,” McConnell said. “… And as the leader of a new majority, he turned the tide in Congress and brought conservative reform in many areas.”