Jobs & the Economy
Throughout the 117th Congress, House Democrats have partnered with President Biden to enact policies that expand economic opportunity for businesses, workers, and communities across America. Under President Biden and Congressional Democrats, the unemployment rate is at its lowest in more than 50 years with more than 10 million jobs created, helping more of our people get ahead in today’s economy and Make It In America.
Democrats pursue an economic agenda that helps American businesses create good-paying jobs and ensure that workers have the tools not only to get by but to get ahead in our global economy. From raising the minimum wage to providing skills training and apprenticeship opportunities to ensuring equal pay for equal work, from making childcare more affordable to making it easier to save for retirement, Democrats’ economic policies are aimed at helping workers and their families attain real economic security at every stage of life.
Democrats have also delivered historic legislation investing in infrastructure and greater access to high-speed internet, taking the lead in the clean-energy economy, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. The generational Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has already begun to expand economic opportunity for Americans in communities across the country and takes action to repair our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure while creating nearly 1.5 million jobs annually over the next decade. It contains the first major American investment in climate resilience to help communities upgrade their critical infrastructure and mitigate the impact of climate change-driven extreme weather. Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act also advances America’s clean energy goals, turbocharging clean energy research and transmission while promoting electric vehicle domestic manufacturing to reduce American dependence on gasoline while revitalizing our auto industry.
The CHIPS and Science Act includes bipartisan measures to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and spur research. By strengthening domestic supply chains, this law acts directly to accelerate American innovation in the long-term while acting immediately to address inflation and create good paying jobs. House Democrats will continue to champion skills training and education at every level – from early childhood learning through higher education – to prepare our people for success and advancement in a changing economy. In all of these efforts, Democrats will continue to look for ways to make access to opportunities more equitable and to combat the lingering effects of legalized discrimination that continue to make it harder for minorities to access credit for loans, seek investment capital for startups, and build wealth to pass on to the next generation.
With historic job creation under President Biden, House Democrats will continue to advance policies that expand economic opportunity for working families, support small businesses, and create better-paying jobs.
I tell people the Democratic party sees themselves as the party of workers, but if we're going to be the party of workers, we have to be the party of employers. People have to understand that synergy. I think it's appropriate that the President reaches out. We have an agenda that I call Make It In America. That has a number of meanings. Obviously going to make it, you are going to succeed. But also that we're going to manufacture things, make things and sell them abroad, grow things and sell them abroad. The President wants to double exports. The way we'll do that is to have a working relationship between business and the Congress and the President.
Today’s employment report for January shows that America’s private sector grew for the 13th month in a row. For the second straight month, our unemployment rate dropped by .4%, to 9.0%, matching the sharpest one-month decline since 1998. But more needs to be done for the millions of Americans who are still out of work.
I believe it is essential that Washington return to fiscal responsibility and tackle our deep debt. While cutting spending is part of the solution, a responsible approach must recognize there are federal investments that can best help grow our economy and create jobs. The Republican plan to cut those job-creating investments is dangerously short-sighted. The economy is starting to move again, but Republican policies would put the brakes on it. And Republicans are ignoring the calls from business, education and other leaders to increase key investments in innovation, education, and infrastructure that are at the heart of economic growth and job creation. Just as few parents would immediately cut back on their children’s education to balance their household budget, America should not follow Republican proposals to shortchange the future.
This afternoon, House Democrats held an important hearing on the ongoing work of job-creation and economic recovery for the middle class. As President Obama has argued persuasively, wise investments in innovation, education, and infrastructure are essential to America’s economic competitiveness and to creating a future of well-paying jobs. That's why Democrats continue to work to pass the Make It In America agenda, legislation aimed at rebuilding America's manufacturing strength and middle-class opportunity. It's also why Democrats have helped states and cities across our country finance much-needed roads and bridges, water and sewer projects, hospitals, energy projects, public utilities, and more. These projects mean immediate jobs--but they also mean a strong foundation for future growth.
The manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in nearly seven years in January and signs of inflation jumped more than expected as a recovery in the world's biggest economy gained traction.
I strongly support the new ‘Startup America’ initiative, which goes hand-in-hand with House Democrats’ Make It In America agenda to strengthen our manufacturing sector and ensure middle-class families can succeed. I look forward to working with President Obama as we move to unleash the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that is so unique to the American economy. It is that spirit that will keep driving job creation and keep the U.S. as the world leader in the 21st century global economy.
President Obama delivered a compelling vision of how we can work together to address America’s challenges. While our economy is on the road back to health, we know we still have a long way to go—and tonight, the president discussed a strategy for getting us there.
The correct answer is D! Despite promises that they would govern differently than they did in the past and start cutting the deficit immediately, the “new” Republicans have returned to the same fiscally irresponsible policies as the old Republicans by breaking their promise to cut spending by $100 billion and more importantly by not putting forward a real plan to reduce the deficit.
U.S. manufacturing, viewed as a lost cause by many Americans, has begun creating more jobs than it eliminates for the first time in more than a decade.
Is American manufacturing dead? Those who think so point to manufacturing’s plummeting share of the national economy as a predictor of its eventual demise. But they likely have never been to Butler County. Here, north of Pittsburgh, in the heart of western Pennsylvania, basic manufacturing still drives the local economy. It has survived around here—indeed, thrived—suggesting that America, too, has an industrial future.