Press Release

I have been saying for some period of time that the Republican Party is a deeply divided party and has been dysfunctional. We have seen that. [Speaker] Boehner has not been able to lead on issues he thought were important.

I think what the election showed was what we've been saying all along, that the Republican Party is a deeply divided, dysfunctional party at this point in time, with great differences internally, which are making it very difficult for them to lead in a positive way.

This Congress we launched the Make It In America plan with an important premise in mind: every American who wants to work hard and take responsibility ought to have a job that pays well and opens doors of opportunity to the middle class. 

While the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill considered by the House today includes a number of positive provisions, I could not support it in its current form because it guts federal support for a number of important transit and housing programs. 

I join in congratulating Reuven Rivlin on being chosen to succeed Israeli President Shimon Peres when his term ends next month.

Fifty-one years ago today, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, landmark legislation that made it illegal for employers to pay women less than men for the same work. 

With 3 million Americans now cut off from the emergency unemployment insurance that ought to be there to help them make ends meet while they continue to look for jobs, Congress must act – and act now. 

Our economy continued to add private sector jobs in May at a steady pace, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics announcing this morning that 216,000 private sector jobs were created last month.