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Schumer to Speak at McConnell Center Next Week

Visit to Louisville could demonstrate ability to work together

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., are expected to visit the University of Louisville on Monday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., are expected to visit the University of Louisville on Monday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer is heading to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home turf.

But unlike when some Democrats enter the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the New York Democrat is doing so at his counterpart’s behest. Schumer confirmed Tuesday morning on the Senate floor that he had accepted the majority leader’s invitation to speak next week at the University of Louisville.

“I’d like to express my appreciation to the Republican leader in addition for his invitation to address the McConnell Center next week in Louisville, which I have accepted. As leaders, the two of us can work together to get things done around here,” Schumer said. “And the best opportunity to work together is the budget. It’s an opportunity not just for us but for our country, not only to escape the terrible damage of sequestration but to condemn it to the past, and we should seize that opportunity.”

Schumer is expected to speak Monday morning at an event hosted by the university’s McConnell Center. The organization’s distinguished speaker series is a who’s who of political figures connected to McConnell, whether friend or adversary.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered a keynote in September, just a few months after McConnell led the shepherding of his confirmation over the protestations of Schumer and the vast majority of Democrats.

The past Democratic speakers in the series include then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — both former Senate colleagues of McConnell.

Ed Pesce contributed to this report.

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