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.
So far, House Republicans’ summer agenda is not drawing rave reviews.
I think [the Republican summer agenda] is spin but I don’t think it’s substantive. I don't think it really addresses the issues that are critical to the economy.
This morning’s jobs report shows that Congressional Republicans’ do-nothing, confrontation over compromise approach to jobs isn’t working. While we continued to see the private sector add jobs for the twenty-seventh straight month, our unemployment rate has slipped back up to 8.2 percent from the three-year record low of 8.1 percent last month. While the President and Democrats in Congress have been promoting a jobs-first agenda to provide certainty to American businesses and workers, Republicans continue to avoid addressing serious job creation in favor of ideological bills.
I am glad that the House removed a provision from the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill that would have prohibited federal agencies from operating under project labor agreements with contractors. Project labor agreements protect the safety of workers, ensure the highest quality of work, and provide time-saving and money-saving efficiency. They are also an important tool in ensuring that contractors comply with equal employment rules and environmental standards.
I am extremely disappointed that Republicans are asking federal employees to take a freeze in pay for a third year in a row. Federal employees have already accepted two consecutive pay freezes with the knowledge that the savings would be applied toward meeting our nation’s fiscal challenges. At the same time Republicans were asking federal employees to contribute, they refused to ask the same of millionaires and billionaires.
Here’s what House Republicans AREN’T doing this week – focusing on jobs and preventing student loan interest rates from doubling:
Last week, House Republicans unveiled a summer legislative agenda that brings forward partisan bills that do not create jobs and will result in higher taxes for the middle class because of their refusal to ensure the wealthy pay their fair share.
In case you missed it while at your Memorial Day weekend barbeque, wanted to pass along this Washington Post piece about Republicans refusing to take Grover Norquist’s pledge.
I was honored to join the President today as he signed into law a bipartisan reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Democrats unanimously supported this bill in the House, and it is an important part of House Democrats’ Make It In America plan for job creation and long-term economic competitiveness.
If you only look at one chart today, this is it.
Read the full MarketWatch article that sets the record straight about who increased spending the most. (HINT: It wasn’t Democrats.)