Press Release
For over five years, the family of Gilad Shalit and the people of Israel have waited anxiously for word that he is coming home. Today, after what has surely been a horrific and terrifying ordeal for Gilad and his loved ones, the wait is finally over.
Elouise Cobell saw injustice and would not be silent. Her fifteen-year fight to ensure that funds held by the government on behalf of American Indians would be used to their benefit and not squandered led to a victory that helped right a historic wrong. The relationship between American Indians and the federal government has long had to endure a legacy of suspicion, and Elouise was instrumental in working toward a future based instead on trust and a commitment to justice. I join in celebrating her life and expressing my sadness at her passing. My thoughts are with her family and the people of her beloved Blackfeet Nation.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial stands in tribute to Dr. King’s enduring message of hope, non-violence, and the tireless pursuit of justice. Through his perseverance and moral leadership, Dr. King helped make our nation, which had been painfully divided into separate and unequal parts, whole.
Big, bold and balanced, I hope that's what the Committee is focused on, what we call the Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or, affectionately, the Super Committee. It is a Super Committee in the sense that it has been given extraordinary powers to come up with a proposal that will then be considered, and 51 members of the Senate can pass it. If a majority of the Senate agrees, it will pass. A majority of the House agrees, it will pass and go to the President.
The Senate’s passage today of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act is a strong statement that we will hold other countries accountable for engaging in currency manipulation. I urge Speaker Boehner and Republican Leader Cantor to allow a vote on this bill in the House, where it received strong, bipartisan support last Congress and, I believe, will pass with wide support this year. Our businesses have what it takes to succeed on a level playing field, and this bill will help them do so. Democrats’ Make It In America plan for job creation, of which this legislation is a part, will get more Americans back to work by helping our businesses innovate and export new products. Sending this bill to the President would be a victory for American businesses and American workers.
The American people are demanding action on jobs now. The President has sent a bill to Congress that economists say would help boost our economy and create as many as 1.9 million jobs. House Democrats have proposed our own plan, Make It In America, which overlaps with the President’s bill and makes similar investments in innovation, education, and infrastructure to create jobs and increase competitiveness. These plans draw on the best ideas from both parties. While Democrats have two good plans, Republicans have yet to introduce one of their own. Today’s vote in the Senate further demonstrates that Republicans are pursuing an agenda that is inconsistent with the best interests of our country. Instead of working with Democrats to create jobs, they refuse to even consider a jobs plan. Instead of allowing the bill to come to the floor so they could debate and amend the parts of it with which they disagree, Republicans have once again simply said ‘no.’ It is long past time that Republicans get serious about unemployment and adopt the type of jobs plan the American people have been asking for.
Today’s report is a further reminder that Congress needs to act now on jobs. While the number of private sector jobs rose by 137,000 in September, and we have had 19 straight months of growth in the private sector, this is not nearly enough for the millions of American still without work and worried about making ends meet for their families. We still have much work left to do.
Today I was pleased that the Senate voted in a bipartisan manner to move forward and consider legislation that will hold countries accountable for manipulating their currency. I strongly believe that American workers and businesses can win when they compete on a fair and level playing field, and that is what this bill would help achieve. As part of House Democrats’ Make It In America jobs plan, this legislation would have a significant impact on lowering our trade deficit and getting more Americans back to work in our manufacturing sector. This bill received bipartisan support in the House last year, and I urge House Republicans to bring this bill to the Floor immediately.
Today the President called on Republicans to pass the American Jobs Act, and I join him in that call. After nine months in the majority, House Republicans have yet to introduce a comprehensive jobs plan. Americans cannot wait any longer. The American Jobs Act is based on bipartisan ideas, and economists have said that it will put people back to work and grow our economy. Many of the elements in the bill overlap with House Democrats’ Make It In America plan to help businesses innovate, expand and create jobs here. House Republicans should stop wasting time on partisan bills that don’t create jobs and instead bring the American Jobs Act to the House Floor for a vote.
In my many trips to Alabama to mark the anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights, I came to know Reverend Shuttlesworth as a man of faith, fortitude, and moral leadership. His efforts were instrumental in making sure that the promise of America extended to all of its people. Reverend Shuttlesworth saw injustice in the world around him and would not stand it. He faced great risk to his life but would not fear it. He made a pledge to shun prejudice and would not break it. Today, Reverend Shuttlesworth lives on in our history and will surely never leave it. My thoughts are with his family, his congregation at the Greater New Light Baptist Church, and the people of his beloved city of Birmingham, Alabama, as we mourn his passing.