Today, the U.S. Department of Labor reported the national unemployment rate at 9.1 percent as the economy added only 54,000 jobs in May. U.S. Congressman Bill Flores (R-Texas) released the following statement regarding the May unemployment report:
"With the latest job numbers at a dismal 9.1 percent and a majority of economists, including the president's own advisors, painting a grim picture for the future, it is painfully clear that Washington's spending binge, high energy prices and the regulatory assault on American employers continue to hamper private sector job creation and economic recovery. America's small businesses create seven of every ten new jobs and they employ just over half of the country's private sector workforce. That is why House Republicans are pressing for significant cuts in federal spending, a comprehensive energy policy and an improved regulatory environment in order to restore the confidence needed for small businesses and entrepreneurs to invest in our economy. It is time we get Washington out of the way so the private sector can thrive again.
"But the Obama Administration and Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, continue to kick the can down the road, postponing and minimizing spending cuts and implementing more taxation, higher energy costs and excess regulation. Democrats' reckless fiscal policies have stalled the economy, slowed innovation and destroyed jobs. Not since the Great Depression has our Nation's unemployment rate been this high for this long. Adding new urgency to our economic crisis, just yesterday, the credit rating agency Moody's warned that without a serious plan from Washington to tackle our fiscal challenges, they would consider cutting the country's exceptional AAA credit rating and downgrading their outlook on America's financial standing.
"House Republicans have a plan to empower families, small businesses and entrepreneurs by implementing common sense, pro-growth policies. We have produced a budget that makes significant reductions to the debt over time and lowers our corporate tax rate so we can stay competitive in the global economy. Last week, we also laid out the "Plan for America's Job Creators" that will create jobs here at home and spur economic growth immediately. In our plan, we incentivize investment in this country as we reduce regulatory burdens, fix the tax code to help job creators, increase competitiveness for American manufacturers, encourage entrepreneurship and growth, maximize domestic energy production to bring down high energy costs, pay down our unsustainable debt burden and start living within our means. House Republicans are committed to taking every possible step to spur job creation and get our economy back on track so that we may restore America's promise, prosperity and security for future generations."