WASHINGTON — When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would bring the Green New Deal forward for votes he thought it would put Democrats — especially 2020 presidential contenders — on the spot.

But on Thursday, Senate Democrats said they welcome the opportunity for a debate on climate change, and the proposal from freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. They say it’s an issue Americans care about, and one Republicans have ignored.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, joined by colleagues on the Senate floor, said: “Bring it on.”

“We actually believe that we need to do something about climate change” and added: “Do Republicans?”

McConnell announced this week that the Senate will vote soon on the Green New Deal resolution. It calls for dramatic steps to virtually eliminate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and has been mocked by critics as unrealistic and veering into socialism. Republicans almost universally oppose it.

President Donald Trump slammed it as not much more than “a high school term paper.”