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.
Rebuilding America's manufacturing industry is essential to creating well-paying, middle-class jobs, and to ensuring that America can be the world's innovation leader for generations to come. That's why Democrats have focused so much energy on the Make It In America agenda, an effort to strengthen American manufacturing. It is a plan that includes incentives for manufacturing investment, workforce training, encouraging innovation, and fighting for a fair playing field for American companies that compete abroad.
Strengthening America's manufacturing is essential to the creation of well-paying, middle class jobs. That's why Democrats have worked hard to pass pieces of our Make It In America agenda. Today, the House continued the Make It In America agenda by passing the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which levels the trade playing field by holding China accountable for its unfair currency policy.
The Republicans unveiled their "Pledge to America" last week and, just as we thought, it contained no new ideas and was a return to the "exact same" failed agenda as President Bush. Their agenda to return to their previous policies makes it clear who they stand with—big corporations and special interests, instead of middle class families.
At his town hall meeting last week, the most painful question put to President Obama was also one of the simplest: 'Is the American Dream dead?'
Today, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act, an important step to boost our small businesses and contribute to our economic recovery. The bill creates a small business lending fund to help businesses access the capital they need to grow and hire new workers; it also includes $12 billion in small business tax cuts and funds export-promoting programs that help American companies compete abroad. The Small Business Jobs Act is fully paid for, so it does not add to the deficit—and it is projected to create or save hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that residential construction rose 10.5% in August.
I'm pleased the Ways and Means Committee passed WTO-consistent China currency legislation this morning. I will bring this bill to the House Floor for a vote next week. While a multilateral approach to addressing this issue is preferable, we cannot wait any longer to level the playing field for U.S. businesses and protect American manufacturing jobs. We recognize the efforts China is making toward reform, but they need to act faster to allow their currency to appreciate. Taking action on this bill, as part of our Make It In America agenda to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and create jobs, will help American workers and small businesses compete successfully.
Today Republicans unveiled their agenda to go back to the failed economic policies that led to the deepest recession in generations. Just as we expected, the focus is on help for the wealthy over the middle class and big corporations over small businesses.
As we work to recover from the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, our small businesses remain the job-creating engine of our economy. Supporting small businesses, and making products in America, are key to creating well-paying, secure, middle-class jobs.