H.R. 1861: Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, while deliberations continue on dealing with our $14.3 trillion debt and while deliberations continue on raising the debt ceiling, Americans are very concerned about where we're going.

June unemployment at 9.2 percent and a growth of only 18,000 jobs translates into a meager 360 jobs per State. Now, when you look at how many high school students graduated in June, that's 3.7 million. Colleges graduated 1.7 million. Those 360 jobs barely equal the size of a typical large American high school graduating class, and certainly barely covers students at one typical college per State with a typical major. No wonder Americans are worried about our economy when so many youth are entering the job market only to find there are no jobs.

So while our leaders on both sides of the aisle are deliberating--and, unfortunately, too much of this immediately becomes a battle of words--let's keep in mind that one way to balance America's budget, one very important way to deal with America's debt, is to grow jobs. For each 1 percent decline in unemployment, it's $90 billion per year in Federal revenue. That's a decrease in unemployment compensation. That's an increase in Federal revenues. That's 1.5 million jobs for every 1 percent decline in unemployment.

Let me quote our colleague from across the building here, Senator Rubio, who said: This is not about increasing taxes; it's about increasing taxpayers. And this could do it.

Now, the cost per job in the failed stimulus bill was at least $278,000 based upon $660 billion spent. Of course, that number per job increases dramatically and rapidly if you include the interest paid on that stimulus bill, which takes us over the $1 trillion mark. That sort of approach is not going to work, and if we open our eyes, we can all honestly admit that. Increasing unemployment is not going to decrease the Federal debt or deficit. We have to grow our way out of this.

Now, a bill that I've introduced and that several colleagues in a bipartisan way have signed onto as cosponsors--and I ask my colleagues to join on as cosponsors--is H.R. 1861. This bill would allow us to say, instead of sending $129 billion a year to OPEC for foreign aid, to buy their oil, we drill for and we use our own. It would yield somewhere between $2.2 trillion and $3.7 trillion over a 30-year period in Federal revenues, not from raising taxes, but from using the standard royalties and lease agreements that come from this. It starts out as a crawl and increases to a walk and then into a run as this money comes through.

What we do in this bill is about growth in America. It isn't just talking about it. It's putting our money where our jobs are because it leads to 1.2 million jobs annually based upon estimates of the American Energy Alliance. That's jobs making steel, making steel pipes, wire, software, technology. It's jobs for the roughnecks. It's the steelworkers, the electricians and the laborers who work on these rigs. It's jobs for those who take this oil and convert it into gasoline, and it's jobs for those who have to put together all the infrastructure to make that happen.

Beyond that, what we do is we dedicate these funds into the infrastructure which America needs. According to the American Society for Civil Engineers, we need over $2 trillion to deal with our current infrastructure needs. Many States find that 25 percent of their roads and bridges are structurally deficient, which is unsafe; but for every $1 billion we spend on our infrastructure, it yields 38,000 jobs. Those jobs are for operating engineers and laborers and carpenters or electricians and engineers and for those who make concrete and steel and all the things that go with what we need for our roads, our highways, our bridges, our locks, our dams, our water and sewer systems.

Let's grow our way back to prosperity. Let's stop saying we're going to send money to OPEC and watch them grow. Let's stop just pointing fingers and blaming and complaining about China. We have the tools here in America to make this happen. So, while our leaders are over at the White House, arguing about how to take care of the debt, let's not forget that, overall, Americans are saying that one way to grow out of this debt is to grow more jobs, to grow more taxpayers, not just to find ways of taxing them. We can do this.

Again, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1861, where we can do this. Let's not talk about jobs, and let's not complain about it. Americans know when the wool is being pulled over their eyes, and Americans know when they're working. Let's truly help them out and get jobs back on the table.

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