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Jobs & the Economy

Creating jobs and expanding economic opportunity continues to be Democrats’ top priority.

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.


Related

Yesterday, Speaker Boehner announced that today would be the last day of votes before the House adjourns for the August District Work Period. In their haste to leave town, House Republican leaders have clearly decided not to reopen the Export-Import Bank, even though it enjoys majority support in both chambers and plays a critical role in helping ensure American small businesses are competing on a level playing field with global competitors.

The Senate has now acted and approved a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, which both Democrats and Republicans agree supports thousands of American jobs.

House Republicans’ misguided, ideological crusade against the Export-Import Bank is already harming American businesses across the country.

While the House took action to prevent the Highway Trust Fund from expiring at the end of this month, which would have put thousands of construction jobs in jeopardy and undermined key investments to maintain our nation’s highway and transit network infrastructure, we cannot continue to go from short-term fix to short-term fix. 

I was pleased to see that today’s Mid-Session Review by the Office of Management and Budget predicts a deficit for 2015 $128 billion lower than anticipated by the President’s budget.  

For the sixty-fourth consecutive month, our economy continues to create private-sector jobs, with 223,000 more added in June.

I applaud the proposed rule announced today to raise the overtime eligibility threshold so that more American workers can bring home the higher wages they have earned. 

Following months of inaction to keep the Export-Import Bank open, House Republicans have decided to shut down the Bank tomorrow, June 30, putting thousands of American jobs at risk. We wanted to make sure you saw today’s blog post in The Hill by senior vice president of International Policy for the U.S.

Charter authority for the Export-Import Bank is set to expire this coming Tuesday, should Congress fail to reauthorize it – which apparently we are going to fail to do.

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) delivered the following remarks today at a press conference with House and Senate Democratic leaders, where he discussed today’s King v. Burwell Supreme Court decision and the need for Republicans to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank and take action on the Highway Trust Fund: