America Needs More Jobs, Not More Government

Floor Speech

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Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A few days ago, the Labor Department released its monthly unemployment report. It was another month of bad news for unemployed Americans looking for work. In September, we lost 263,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8, a 26-year high. And, according to the Labor Department, the number of unemployed people now stands at 15.1 million.

This is an American tragedy. There are millions of breadwinners desperate for an opportunity to get back to work. But for far too many, these opportunities seem inaccessible. And Washington doesn't seem to get it.

Instead, it's business as usual here in Washington. Borrow and spend is Washington's prescription for our ailing economy. But Americans know that we cannot borrow and spend our way into prosperity. We've tried that already--and it didn't work.

Nevertheless, my Democrat colleagues insisted that passing a stimulus bill that borrowed another trillion dollars would create jobs ``immediately'' and unemployment would not rise above 8 percent. The facts tell another, more discouraging story.

More than 2.7 million jobs have been lost since the so-called stimulus was signed by President Obama. And the Labor Department keeps churning out these gloomy monthly unemployment reports. Today, there are about 12 million workers who would like to work full time but can't find a full-time job. U.S. auto sales plummeted in September and factory orders tumbled by the largest amount in 5 months.

The American people know that a true economic recovery starts with tax relief for American families and small businesses and fiscal discipline in Washington. After all, if American families have to buckle down and trim their budgets, Washington should, too. We can't keep running $1.5 trillion deficits and expect economic growth as a result.

House Republicans agree with the American people. Washington needs to rein in the runaway spending. For example, this week Congress is poised to pass an agriculture spending bill which includes a 14 percent increase in discretionary spending. There's plenty of good to be said about some of the spending in this bill, but its unrestrained increase in spending is emblematic of Washington's intractable, profligate habits.

We can find a way to live within our means and create real incentives for employers to create jobs and get people back to work. How about using what remains of the stimulus money to create a jobs tax credit for employers who take risks and put Americans back to work?

Such a tax credit could spur new job creation and help reinvigorate our battered economy. Plus, it keeps taxpayer money out of wasteful government programs and politicians' pet projects.

Until we start to consider such real solutions to our jobs deficit, I will continue to oppose the Democrats' job-killing tax-and-spend policies and support real solutions to get the American people back to work.

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